Abscissa and ordinate 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). Usually these are the horizontal and vertical coordinates of a point in a two-dimensional rectangular Cartesian coordinate system. The terms can also refer to the horizontal and vertical axes respectively (typically "x"-axis and "y"–axis) of a two-dimensional graph. 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. Though the word "abscissa"
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