abacus

Noun

abacus (plural: abacuses or abaci (considered pedantic))

1. (obsolete) A table or tray strewn with sand, anciently used for drawing, calculating, etc.
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.

   I"ve heard merchants still use an abacus for adding things up in China.

3. (architecture) The uppermost member or division of the capital of a column, immediately under the architrave.
4. (archaic) A tablet, panel, or compartment in ornamented or mosaic work.
5. A board, tray, or table, divided into perforated compartments, for holding cups, bottles, or the like; a kind of cupboard, buffet, or sideboard.

6 letters in word "abacus": A A B C S U.

No anagrams for abacus found in this word list.

Words found within abacus:

aa aas ab aba abac abacs abas abs as ba baa baas bas bus cab caba cabas cabs casa causa cub cubs sab sac sau sauba scab scuba sub suba us

• Definitions:
• Flat top of the capital of a column.
• The flat slab on top of a *capital.
• Flat portion on top of a capital.
• The flat stone slab underneath the entablature that forms the top of the capital of a classical column supporting a beam.
• The top part of any capital. The square slab placed on top of the capital to bear the beam. It often has mouldings and these are an indicator of the date that its design is derived from.
• The slab that forms the top of the capital. See ORDERS OF ARCHITECTURE
• the hat worn by certain Roman priests, originally referring to the rod or spike surmounting the headdress. David Sear
• At first the term abacus refers to a sand covered table upon which figures were inscribed using a stylus. There is a suspicion that the abacus had a semitic origin. A cuneiform sign among the ruins at Nippur(Shid») resembles its form (a calculating table). ...
• The term abacus is refers to the flat square slab of masonry that forms the uppermost member or division of the capital of a column, immediately under the architrave. The term is also used to describe a tablet, panel, or compartment in ornamented or mosaic work. ©2007 The Probert Encyclopaedia. ...
• A slab forming the top of the capital of a column. Either cushion or round shaped.
• This is used in China and other parts of the world to do math problems.
• An ancient calculating device made of beads and wires mounted on a frame. Often used to teach place value.
• a. square shaped, upper portion of a capital on a column of the Greek Doric Order.
• The topmost horizontal tablet of a column's capital to support the architrave.
• 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
• An abacus (plurals abacuses or abaci) is a calculation tool, often constructed as a wooden frame with beads sliding on wires. ...
• In architecture, an abacus (from the Greek abax, a slab; or French abaque, tailloir; plurals abacuses or abaci) is a flat slab or set above the capital of a column, forming its uppermost member. ...

• abactors ←
• abactor ←
• abactinally ←
• abacus
• → abacuses
• → abaft
• → abaka