cylindrical coordinate


noun Mathematics.

Usually cylindrical coordinates. a member of a system of coordinates for locating a point in space by its polar coordinates and its perpendicular distance to the polar plane.
See also polar coordinate.

Origin of cylindrical coordinate

First recorded in 1930–35

British Dictionary definitions for cylindrical coordinates

cylindrical coordinates

pl n

three coordinates defining the location of a point in three-dimensional space in terms of its polar coordinates (r, θ) in one plane, usually the (x, y) plane, and its perpendicular distance, z, measured from this plane