English▸ noun
(plural or abscissas)
Mathematics (in a system of coordinates) the distance from a point to the vertical or y-axis, measured parallel to the horizontal or x-axis; the x-coordinate. Compare with ordinate– ORIGIN late 17th century (denoting the part of a line between a point on it and the point of intersection with an ordinate): from modern Latin abscissa (linea) ‘cut-off (line)’, feminine past participle of abscindere (see abscission).