abscissa
ab·scis·sa/æbˈsɪs.ə/noun
abscissa is spelled A-B-S-C-I-S-S-A: 8 letters and 3 syllables (ab·scis·sa). It appears about once in every 29 million words in written English, the 163,711th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, abscissa means “The first of the two terms by which a point is referred to, in a system of fixed rectilinear coordinate (Cartesian coordinate) axes” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of abscissa is abscissas or abscissae.
How many letters and syllables are in abscissa?
| Letters | 8: A-B-S-C-I-S-S-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ab·scis·sa |
| In writing | about once in every 29 million words; the 163,711th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is abscissa?
Abscissa appears about once in every 29 million words in written English, the 163,711th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce abscissa?
- US /æbˈsɪs.ə/
Abscissa has 3 syllables, split ab·scis·sa in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-abscissa.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with abscissa?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as abscissa from its last stressed vowel (/ɪsə/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of abscissa
- abscissas plural
- abscissae plural
- abscissæ plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does abscissa mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The first of the two terms by which a point is referred to, in a system of fixed rectilinear coordinate (Cartesian coordinate) axes.
The point (3,2) has 3 as its abscissa and 2 as its ordinate.
- 2
The horizontal line representing an axis of a Cartesian coordinate system, on which the abscissa (sense above) is shown.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Abscissa in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does abscissa come from?
By ellipsis from Latin [linea] abscissa, feminine of abscissus, perfect passive participle of abscindō (“cut off”). See abscind.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).