absciss

/ˈæb.sɪs/US/ˈæb.sɪs/

absciss is the alternative form of abscissa.

Verb

UK/əbˈsɪs/US/æbˈsɪs/

absciss (third-person singular simple present abscisses, present participle abscissing, simple past and past participle abscissed)

abscissa (plural abscissas or abscissae or abscissæ)

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.
The horizontal line representing an axis of a Cartesian coordinate system, on which the abscissa (sense above) is shown.

Noun
plural	abscisses
Verb
third-person singular present	abscisses
present participle	abscissing
past participle	abscissed
past	abscissed

From Latin abscissa, feminine of abscissus, perfect passive participle of abscindō (“cut asunder”).

Back-formation from abscission.

What does absciss mean?: Absciss means to cut off by abscission.
What is absciss the alternative form of?: Absciss is the alternative form of abscissa.
What part of speech is absciss?: Absciss is a verb.
How do you pronounce absciss?: Absciss is pronounced /ˈæb.sɪs/ (UK).
What is the past tense of absciss?: The past tense of absciss is abscissed.

Adapted from Wiktionary: absciss (page history and authors); abscissa (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-absciss (noun).wav.

Cite this entry: “absciss.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/absciss. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.