abscissa

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

By ellipsis from Latin [linea] abscissa, feminine of abscissus, perfect passive participle of abscindō (“cut off”). See abscind.

For the lines of beauty there are no abscissae and ordinates; circles and ellipses are not described by means of their algebraical formulae. — On War, Carl von Clausewitz
But the essence of the Cartesian geometry (although Descartes did not give it this form) was to regard every plane curve as described by the movement of a point on a movable straight line which is displaced, parallel to itself, along the axis of the abscissae--the displacement of the movable straight line being supposed to be uniform and the abscissa thus becoming representative of the time. — Creative Evolution, Bergson, Henri

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