ABSCISSA

[ab.scis.sa] n, pl abscissas also ab.scis.sae [NL, fr. L, fem. of abscissus, pp. of abscindere to cut off, fr. ab- + scindere to cut--more at shed] (1694): the horizontal coordinate of a point in a plane Cartesian coordinate system obtained by measuring parallel to the x-axis--compare ordinate