Abscissa and Ordinate of Cartesian Coordinates

by Corry Shores
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Two perpendicular axes, y and x, intersect at the origin point 0.

The coordinates for point P are its measured distances from each coordinate axis. The horizontal x axis is the axis of abscissea and it corresponds with longitude in Oresme's latitude of forms. The vertical y axis is the axis of ordinates and it corresponds with latitude.

There is a positive increase of value moving to the right on the x-axis and up on the y-axis.

The x coordinate of point P is its abscissa and its y coordinate is its ordinate.

Material from:

Bronshtein, Muehlig, Musiol, and Semendyayev. Handbook of Mathematics. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 2004.