In common usage, the abscissa refers to the (x) coordinate and the ordinate refers to the (y) coordinate of a standard two-dimensional graph. The distance of a point from the y-axis, scaled with the x-axis, is called abscissa or x coordinate of the point. The distance of a point from x-axis scaled with the y-axis is called ordinate.For example, if (x, y) is an ordered pair in the Cartesian plane, then the first coordinate in the plane (x) is called the abscissa and the second coordinate (y) is the ordinate. abscissa -axis (horizontal) coordinateordinate -axis (vertical) coordinate