Abscissa and ordinate a parametric equation. Used in this way, the abscissa can be thought of as a coordinate-geometry analog to the independent variable in a mathematical model or experiment (with any ordinates filling a role analogous to dependent variables). Abscissa and ordinate In mathematics, the abscissa (; plural "abscissae" or "abscissæ" or "abscissas") and the ordinate are respectively the first and second coordinate of a point in a coordinate system. 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
Abscissa and ordinate (Latin; "linea abscissa", "a line cut off") has been used at least since "De Practica Geometrie" published in 1220 by Fibonacci (Leonardo of Pisa), its use in its modern sense may be due to Venetian mathematician Stefano degli Angeli in his work "Miscellaneum Hyperbolicum, et Parabolicum" of 1659. In his 1892 work "Vorlesungen über Geschichte der Mathematik, Volume 2," (""Lectures on history of mathematics"") German historian of mathematics Moritz Cantor writes In a somewhat obsolete variant usage, the abscissa of a point may also refer to any number that describes the point's location along some path, e.g. the parameter of