Cartesian coordinates

plural noun

1. a system of representing points in space in terms of their distance from a given origin measured along a set of mutually perpendicular axes. Written ( x,y,z ) with reference to three axes

Example Sentences

Like Pythagoras, Descartes was a mathematician-philosopher; perhaps his most lasting legacy was a mathematical invention—what we now call Cartesian coordinates.

From Literature

It was on one such morning—as the story goes—while dreamily watching the path of a fly flitting around on the ceiling, that he came up with the xy plane of Cartesian coordinates.

From The New Yorker

Instead of using stodgy Cartesian coordinates, Black Rock City is organized along polar coordinates, making its coordinate system unique among massive fire-themed desert art festivals.

From Scientific American

In particular, he taught his dad that the first step in making a graph is to draw what's called Cartesian coordinates.

From Scientific American

Hence if we take, as coordinates on the surface, the Cartesian coordinates of corresponding points on the plane, the geodesics must have linear equations.

From Project Gutenberg