Excel Terms

Column

A column is a vertical series of cells in a chart, table, or spreadsheet. Below is an example of a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with column headers (column letter) A, B, C, D, E, and F. As you can see from the picture below, column H is the highlighted column in red and the selected cell D8 is in column D.

Fill down

A command used to copy data to cells in a column below the original cell. Fill Handle. A black box on the lower-right corner of the selected cell or range that you can use to fill (copy) a series or formula.

Row

A row is a series of data banks laid out in a horizontal fashion in a table or spreadsheet. For example, in the picture below, the row headers (row numbers) are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on. Row 16 is highlighted in red and cell D8 (on row 8) is the selected cell.

Active cell

Active cell is also referred to as cell pointer, or selected cell. An active cell refers to a cell in Excel spreadsheet that is currently selected by clicking mouse pointer or keyboard keys. Remember only one cell can be active cell at a time. An active cell is bounded by a heavy border around it.

Gridlines

Alternatively referred to as a column separator or row separator, Grid lines or gridlines are the light gray lines that divide each of the cells, rows, and columns in a spreadsheet. In the picture below, is an example of gridlines in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

Worksheet

An Excel worksheet is a single spreadsheet that contains cells organized by rows and columns. A worksheet begins with row number one and column A. Each cell can contain a number, text or formula. A cell can also reference another cell in the same worksheet, the same workbook or a different workbook.

X Axis

An axis on a chart or graph in Excel or Google Spreadsheets is a horizontal line containing units of measure. The axes border the plot area of column charts (bar graphs), line graphs, and other charts

Y Axis

An axis on a chart or graph in Excel or Google Spreadsheets is a vertical line containing units of measure. The axes border the plot area of column charts (bar graphs), line graphs, and other charts.

Portrait Page Orientation

By default, Microsoft Excel prints worksheets in portrait orientation (taller than wide). You can change the page orientation to landscape on a worksheet-by-worksheet basis.

Cell ranges

Defined name A name that represents a cell, range of cells, formula, or constant value. You can create your own defined name, and Microsoft Office Excel sometimes creates a defined name for you, such as when you set a print area.

Value

Defined name A name that represents a cell, range of cells, formula, or constant value. You can create your own defined name, and Microsoft Office Excel sometimes creates a defined name for you, such as when you set a print area.

Order of Operation

Excel calculates formulas based on the following order of operations: Operations enclosed in parentheses. Exponential calculations (3^2, for example) Multiplication and division, whichever comes first.

Fill right

Fill Handle. A black box on the lower-right corner of the selected cell or range that you can use to fill (copy) a series or formula. Fill Right. A command used to copy data to cells in a row to the right of the original cell.

Functions

Formulas in Excel are useful to perform various mathematical, statistical, and logical operations. You can type in a formula (though you have to be sure it's exactly right) or you can use Excel's preset formulas called functions

Bar chart

Horizontal rectangles (bars) chart in which the length of a bar is proportional to the value (as measured along the horizontal axis) of the item (entity or quantity) it represents. Also called bar graph, it is used commonly to compare the values of several items in a group at a given point in time.

Autosum

If you need to sum a column or row of numbers, let Excel do the math for you. Select a cell next to the numbers you want to sum, click AutoSum on the Home tab, press Enter, and you're done. When you click AutoSum, Excel automatically enters a formula (that uses the SUM function) to sum the numbers.

Landscape Page Orientation

In word processing and desktop publishing, the terms portrait and landscape refer to whether the document is oriented vertically or horizontally. A page with landscape orientation is wider than it is tall.

SUM

Microsoft Excel defines SUM as a formula that "Adds all the numbers in a range of cells". This definition clearly points that Sum function has a job to add numbers and the arguments can be supplied using combinations of both numbers and range of cells.

Sort

Sorting is the process of arranging objects in a certain sequence or sort order according to specific rules. In spreadsheet programs such as Excel and Google Spreadsheets, there are a number of different sort orders available depending on the type of data being sorted

AVERAGE (the formula)

The Microsoft Excel AVERAGE function returns the average (arithmetic mean) of the numbers provided. ... It can be used as a worksheet function (WS) in Excel. As a worksheet function, the AVERAGE function can be entered as part of a formula in a cell of a worksheet.

Spreadsheet

The definition of a spreadsheet is a piece of paper or a computer program used for accounting and recording data using rows and columns into which information can be entered. Microsoft Excel, a program in which you enter data into columns, is an example of a spreadsheet program.

Label

The term label has a number of meanings in spreadsheet programs. A label most often refers to a text entry such as a heading used to identify a column of data. The term is also used to refer to the headings and titles in charts - such as the horizontal and vertical axes titles.

Formula

Using formulas in spreadsheets can allow you to quickly make calculations and get totals of multiple cells, rows, or columns in a spreadsheet. In the picture below is an example of a Microsoft Excel formula =SUM(A$1:A$3), which adds the total of cells A1,A2, and A3. In this formula, SUM is the function of the formula.

Alignment

Using the Standard toolbar to align text and numbers in cells. ... Text and numbers can be defined as left-aligned, right-aligned, or centered in Excel XP. The picture below shows the difference between these alignment types when they're applied to labels.

Pie chart

a graphic representation of quantitative information by means of a circle divided into sectors, in which the relative sizes of the areas (or central angles) of the sectors correspond to the relative sizes or proportions of the quantities. Expand. Also called circle graph, pie graph. Origin of pie chart.