Abscissa is the formal term for the x-coordinate of a point on a coordinate graph. The abscissa of the point (3,5) is three. The word is a conjunction of ab(from) + scindere (tear). Literally then, abscissa is a line that has been cut or torn from another line. The main root is closely related to the Latin root from which we get the word scissors. I have a note that credits Leibniz with the orinin of the term in 1692, but in 2006 I received a note from Professor Barney Hughes that, "Fibonacci used the word in our meaning several times in his book, De practica geometrie. " .
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