ABSCISSAS
Noun
abscissas
plural of abscissa
Source: Wiktionary
ABSCISSA
Ab*scis"sa, n.; E. pl. Abscissas, L. pl. Abscissæ. Etym: [L., fem. of
abscissus, p. p. of absindere to cut of. See Abscind.] (Geom.)
Definition: One of the elements of reference by which a point, as of a
curve, is referred to a system of fixed rectilineal coördinate axes.
Note: When referred to two intersecting axes, one of them called the
axis of abscissas, or of X, and the other the axis of ordinates, or
of Y, the abscissa of the point is the distance cut off from the axis
of X by a line drawn through it and parallel to the axis of Y. When a
point in space is referred to three axes having a common
intersection, the abscissa may be the distance measured parallel to
either of them, from the point to the plane of the other two axes.
Abscissas and ordinates taken together are called coördinates.
– OX or PY is the abscissa of the point P of the curve, OY or PX
its ordinate, the intersecting lines OX and OY being the axes of
abscissas and ordinates respectively, and the point O their origin.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition