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What is a abacus?
What is abacus?

abacus

 [ab-uh-kuhs, uh-bak-uhs]   Example Sentences Origin

ab·a·cus

   [ab-uh-kuhs, uh-bak-uhs]
noun, plural ab·a·cus·es, ab·a·ci  [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.
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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:
any of a number of similar major vertical divisions of a large interior or wall; a division of a window between a mullion and an adjoining mullion or jamb
an area of wall enframed by an arch or vault
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Example Sentences
  • Abacus is what its originators call a solera cabernet.
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  • Their defensive schemes are better suited for an abacus than a computer.
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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
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a counting frame is 17c. or later.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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