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abacus

[ab-uh-kuhs, uh-bak-uhs]

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noun, plural ab·a·cus·es, ab·a·ci

[ab-uh-sahy, -kahy, uh-bak-ahy] .

a device for making arithmetic calculations, consisting of a frame set with rods on which balls or beads are moved.

Architecture. a slab forming the top of the capital of a column.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin: board, counting board, re-formed < Greek ábax

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Abacus is always a great word to know.

So is lunette. Does it mean:

a supporting part of a structure; the area of contact between a supporting beam and other underlying support

an area of wall enframed by an arch or vault

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Example Sentences

Their defensive schemes are better suited for an abacus than a computer.

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Abacus is what its originators call a solera cabernet.

Collins

World English Dictionary

abacus (ˈæbəkəs)

—n , pl -ci, -cuses
1.	a counting device that consists of a frame holding rods on which a specific number of beads are free to move. Each rod designates a given denomination, such as units, tens, hundreds, etc, in the decimal system, and each bead represents a digit or a specific number of digits
2.	architect the flat upper part of the capital of a column

[C16: from Latin, from Greek abax board covered with sand for tracing calculations, from Hebrew ābhāq dust]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

abacus

late 14c., "sand table for drawing, calculating, etc.," from L. abacus, from Gk. abax (gen. abakos) "counting table," from Heb. abaq "dust," from root a-b-q "to fly off." Originally a drawing board covered with dust or sand that could be written on to do mathematical equations. Specific reference to

EXPAND

a counting frame is 17c. or later.

COLLAPSE

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Matching Quote

"What makes the computer's representation special is that it can be manipulated so rapidly without direct human intervention. Once the program is determined and the machine set to work, the electrons fly until an answer is produced. An abacus can produce an answer mechanically by means of a person who unthinkingly slides the counters according to the rules. And yet the very fact that a human being is needed to push the counters suggests a close link between man and machine. The abacus is a tool rather than a machine, for it extends human technical capabilities while remaining intimately under human control. A machine runs more or less under its own control, with its own sense of purpose and its own inanimate source of power."

-J. David Bolter

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