saddle point

noun

, Mathematics.

1. a point at which a function of two variables has partial derivatives equal to zero but at which the function has neither a maximum nor a minimum value.

Word History and Origins

Origin of saddle point¹

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

YV: We are sitting on a saddle point, prepared to tip in either direction.

From The Guardian

He and his colleagues have also discussed using the craft’s thrusters to send it to a spot known as a saddle point, where the gravitational pulls of Earth and the Sun cancel each other out.

From Nature

Along about midnight we reached Saddle Point, where there was some shelter from the sea which rolled up the wide open strait, and there we anchored.

From Project Gutenberg

We had rounded Saddle Point, a prominent headland, which shut off from us temporarily the violence of the gale.

From Project Gutenberg