abacus

== English == === Etymology === From Late Middle English abacus, abagus, agabus (“abacus; art of counting with an abacus”), from Latin abacus, abax (“sideboard or table with a slab at the top; slab at the top of a column; counting board, sand table; board for playing games”) (compare Late Latin abacus (“art of arithmetic”)), from Ancient Greek ἄβαξ (ábax, “slab, counting board; board covered with sand for drawing; plate; dice-board”). Doublet of abaque. The plural form abaci is reinforced from Latin abacī. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈæbəkəs/ Hyphenation: ab‧a‧cus (Indic) IPA(key): /əˈbakəs/ Hyphenation: a‧ba‧cus === Noun === abacus (plural abaci or abacuses) (historical, obsolete) A table or tray scattered with sand which was used for calculating or drawing. [attested from c. 1387] A device used for performing arithmetical calculations; (rare) a table on which loose counters are placed, or (more commonly) an instrument with beads sliding on rods, or counters in grooves, with one row of beads or counters representing units, the next tens, etc. [from late 17th c.] (architecture) The uppermost portion of the capital of a column immediately under the architrave, in some cases a flat oblong or square slab, in others more decorated. [from mid 16th c.] (Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, historical) A board, tray, or table, divided into perforated compartments for holding bottles, cups, or the like; a kind of buffet, cupboard, or sideboard. [from late 18th c.] ==== Hyponyms ==== soroban (Japanese) suanpan (Chinese) ==== Related terms ==== abaciscus (archaic) abacist abaculus (archaic) abaque ==== Translations ==== === Notes === === Further reading === abacus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia abacus (architecture) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia abacus (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia “abacus”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abacus”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 2. Elliott K. Dobbie, C. William Dunmore, Robert K. Barnhart, et al. (editors), Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2004 [1998], →ISBN), page 2 Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “abacus”, in Online Etymology Dictionary. “abacus, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2011 “abacus, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022. == Dutch == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin abacus, from Ancient Greek ἄβαξ (ábax), possibly from a Semitic source; compare Hebrew אָבָק (avák, “dust”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈɑ.baː.kʏs/ Hyphenation: aba‧cus === Noun === abacus m (plural abaci or abacussen, diminutive abacusje n) (arithmetic) abacus (arithmetic calculation device, usually with beads on rods) Synonyms: rekentafel, telraam (architecture) abacus (upper portion of a column's capital) == Latin == === Alternative forms === abax === Etymology === From Ancient Greek ἄβαξ (ábax, “board”). === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈa.ba.kʊs] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈaː.ba.kus] === Noun === abacus m (genitive abacī); second declension square board sideboard counting board, abacus gaming board A painted ceiling or wall panel. panel tray (Late Latin) calculation in general ==== Declension ==== Second-declension noun. ==== Descendants ==== === Further reading === “ăbăcus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “abacus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers "abacus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887) “abacus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette. “abacus”, in The Perseus Project (1999), Perseus Encyclopedia‎[2] “abacus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers “abacus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin Professor Kidd, et al. Collins Gem Latin Dictionary. HarperCollins Publishers (Glasgow: 2004). →ISBN. page 1. == Middle English == === Alternative forms === abagus === Etymology === Learned borrowing from Latin abacus, from Ancient Greek ἄβαξ (ábax). === Noun === abacus abacus ==== Descendants ==== English: abacus ==== References ==== “abacus, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.