ordinate

OR'DINATE, verb transitive To appoint. [Not used.] OR'DINATE, adjective [Latin ordinatus.] Regular; methodical. An ordinate figure is one whose sides and angles are equal. OR'DINATE, noun In geometry and conic sections, a line drawn from any point of the circumference of an ellipsis or other conic section, perpendicularly across the axis to the other side. An ordinate is a line drawn perpendicular to the axis of a curve and terminating the curvilinear space. Ordinates of a curve, right lines parallel to one another, terminated by the curve, and bisected by a right line called the diameter.