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ab⋅a⋅cus
[ab-uh-kuh
s, uh-bak-uhs] 
–noun, plural ab⋅a⋅cus⋅es, ab⋅a⋅ci [ab-uh-sahy, -kahy, uh-bak-ahy] .
[ab-uh-sahy, -kahy, uh-bak-ahy] . | 1. | a device for making arithmetic calculations, consisting of a frame set with rods on which balls or beads are moved. |
| 2. | Architecture. a slab forming the top of the capital of a column. |
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L: board, counting board, re-formed < Gk ábax
1350–1400; ME < L: board, counting board, re-formed < Gk ábax
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To abacus
ab·a·cus (āb'ə-kəs, ə-bāk'əs)  (click for larger image in new window) n. pl. ab·a·cus·es or ab·a·ci (āb'ə-sī', ə-bāk'ī')
[Middle English, from Latin, from Greek abax, abak-, counting board, perhaps from Hebrew 'ābāq, dust; see  bq in Semitic roots.]Word History: The adjective dusty, with its connotations of disuse and age, might seem an appropriate word to describe the abacus, since this counting device was used for solving arithmetical problems in the days before calculators and computers. Originally the abacus was, in fact, dusty. The source of our word abacus, the Greek word abax, probably comes from Hebrew 'ābāq, "dust," although the details of transmission are obscure. In postbiblical usage 'ābāq meant "sand used as a writing surface." The Greek word abax has as one of its senses "a board sprinkled with sand or dust for drawing geometric diagrams." This board is a relative of the abacus with movable counters strung on rods that is familiar to us. The first use of the word abacus, recorded in Middle English in a work written before 1387, refers to a sand-board abacus used by the Arabs. The difference in form between the Middle English word abacus and its Greek source abax is explained by the fact that Middle English borrowed Latin abacus, which came from the Greek genitive form (abakos) of abax. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Abacus
Ab"a*cus\ ([a^]b"[.a]*k[u^]s), n.; E. pl. Abacuses; L. pl. Abaci (-s[imac]). [L. abacus, abax, Gr. 'a`bax]1. A table or tray strewn with sand, anciently used for drawing, calculating, etc. [Obs.] 2. A calculating table or frame; an instrument for performing arithmetical calculations by balls sliding on wires, or counters in grooves, the lowest line representing units, the second line, tens, etc. It is still employed in China. 3. (Arch.) (a) The uppermost member or division of the capital of a column, immediately under the architrave. See Column. (b) A tablet, panel, or compartment in ornamented or mosaic work. 4. A board, tray, or table, divided into perforated compartments, for holding cups, bottles, or the like; a kind of cupboard, buffet, or sideboard. Abacus harmonicus (Mus.), an ancient diagram showing the structure and disposition of the keys of an instrument. --Crabb.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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abacus
1387, "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 a counting frame is 17c. or later.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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