page_title: Abscissa and ordinate
hierarchical_section_title: Abscissa and ordinate
context_page_description: In common usage, the abscissa refers to the horizontal (x) axis and the ordinate refers to the vertical axis of a standard two-dimensional graph.
  In mathematics, the abscissa and the ordinate are respectively the first and second coordinate of a point in a coordinate system:
  abscissa -axis coordinate
  ordinate -axis coordinate
  Usually these are the horizontal and vertical coordinates of a point in a two-dimensional rectangular Cartesian coordinate system. An ordered pair consists of two terms—the abscissa and the ordinate —which define the location of a point in two-dimensional rectangular space:
  The abscissa of a point is the signed measure of its projection on the primary axis, whose absolute value is the distance between the projection and the origin of the axis, and whose sign is given by the location on the projection relative to the origin.
  The ordinate of a point is the signed measure of its projection on the secondary axis, whose absolute value is the distance between the projection and the origin of the axis, and whose sign is given by the location on the projection relative to the origin.
context_section_description: In common usage, the abscissa refers to the horizontal (x) axis and the ordinate refers to the vertical (y) axis of a standard two-dimensional graph.
  In mathematics, the abscissa (/æbˈsɪs.ə/; plural abscissae or abscissæ or abscissas) and the ordinate are respectively the first and second coordinate of a point in a coordinate system:
  abscissa -axis (horizontal) coordinate
  ordinate -axis (vertical) coordinate
  Usually these are the horizontal and vertical coordinates of a point in a two-dimensional rectangular Cartesian coordinate system.  An ordered pair consists of two terms—the abscissa (horizontal, usually x) and the ordinate (vertical, usually y)—which define the location of a point in two-dimensional rectangular space:
  The abscissa of a point is the signed measure of its projection on the primary axis, whose absolute value is the distance between the projection and the origin of the axis, and whose sign is given by the location on the projection relative to the origin (before: negative; after: positive).
  The ordinate of a point is the signed measure of its projection on the secondary axis, whose absolute value is the distance between the projection and the origin of the axis, and whose sign is given by the location on the projection relative to the origin (before: negative; after: positive).
caption: Illustration of a Cartesian coordinate plane, showing the absolute values (unsigned dotted line lengths) of the coordinates of the points (2, 3), (0, 0), (–3, 1), and (–1.5, –2.5). The first value in each of these signed ordered pairs is the abscissa of the corresponding point, and the second value is its ordinate.