ABACUS • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Abacus

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/ˈæbəkəs/ Listen

Abacus

noun

(pl. E. abacuses; L. abaci)

A tablet placed horizontally on top of the capital of a column as an aid in supporting the architrave.

A calculator that performs arithmetic functions by manually sliding counters on rods or in grooves.

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Etymology of 'Abacus'

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"Abacus" Quotes from Famous Books

... windows, and one of them has angle shafts, with carved caps and mouldings. The present large north window has remains of its original features, but its tracery is of late work. There is a transition attached shaft with carved cap and square abacus in the low pointed recess. There is only a shaft on one side of the recess, and the pointed arch of this recess, as well as the tomb alongside, below the large window, are of later work.[232] On the west side of the north wall there has been a round arched doorway, and traces ...

— Scottish Cathedrals and Abbeys • Dugald Butler and Herbert Story

... methodical folk. They paid no heed to our hurry, and instead of shouldering the baggage they proceeded to weigh it, each manload by itself, on a steelyard of wood six feet long; the results they then worked out conscientiously on an abacus. After which I paid accordingly. Truly an equitable adjustment between man and man, at which I lost only the time it ...

— Noto, An Unexplored Corner of Japan • Percival Lowell

Words linked to "Abacus" : tablet, calculating machine, calculator