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1828.mshaffer.com › Word [abacus]
AB'ACUS, n. [L. anything flat, as a cupboard, a bench, a slate, a table or board for games; Gr. Usually deduced from the Oriental, abak, dust, because the ancients used tables covered with dust for making figures and diagrams.] 1. Among the Romans, a cupboard or buffet.2. An instrument to facilitate operations in arithmetic; on this are drawn lines; a counter on the lowest line, is one; on the next, ten; on the third, a hundred, &e. On the spaces, counters denote half the number of the line above. Other schemes are called by the same name. The name is also given to a table of numbers, cast up as an abacus of addition; and by analogy, to the art of numbering, as in Knighton's Chronicon.3. In architecture, a table constituting the upper member or crowning of a column and its capital. It is usually square, but sometimes its sides are arched inwards. The name is also given to a concave molding on the capital of the Tuscan pedestal; and to the plinth above the boultin in the Tuscan and Doric orders.
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Evolution (or devolution) of this word [abacus]
1828 Webster | 1844 Webster | 1913 Webster |
AB'ACUS, n. [L. anything flat, as a cupboard, a bench, a slate, a table or board for games; Gr. Usually deduced from the Oriental, abak, dust, because the ancients used tables covered with dust for making figures and diagrams.] 1. Among the Romans, a cupboard or buffet.2. An instrument to facilitate operations in arithmetic; on this are drawn lines; a counter on the lowest line, is one; on the next, ten; on the third, a hundred, &e. On the spaces, counters denote half the number of the line above. Other schemes are called by the same name. The name is also given to a table of numbers, cast up as an abacus of addition; and by analogy, to the art of numbering, as in Knighton's Chronicon.3. In architecture, a table constituting the upper member or crowning of a column and its capital. It is usually square, but sometimes its sides are arched inwards. The name is also given to a concave molding on the capital of the Tuscan pedestal; and to the plinth above the boultin in the Tuscan and Doric orders. | AB'A-CUS, n. [L. abacus, any thing flat, as a cupboard, a bench, a slate, a table or board for games; Gr. αβαξ. Usually deduced from the Oriental, אבק abak, dust, because the ancients used tables covered with dust for making figures and diagrams.]- Among the Romans, a cupboard or buffet.
- An instrument to facilitate operations in arithmetic; on this are drawn lines; a counter on the lowest line, is one; on the next, ten; on the third, a hundred, &c. On the spaces, counters denote half the number of the line above. Other schemes are called by the same name. The name is also given to a table of numbers cast up, as, an abacus of addition; and by analogy, to the art of numbering, as in Knighton's Chronicon. – Encyc.
- In architecture, a table constituting the upper member or crowning of a column and its capital. It is usually square, but sometimes its sides are arched inwards. The name is also given to a concave molding on the capital of the Tuscan pedestal; and to the plinth above the boultin in the Tuscan and Doric orders. – Encyc.
| Ab"a*cus
- A table or tray strewn with sand, anciently used
for drawing, calculating, etc.
- 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.
- The uppermost
member or division of the capital of a column, immediately under the
architrave. See Column.
- A board, tray, or table, divided into perforated
compartments, for holding cups, bottles, or the like; a kind of cupboard,
buffet, or sideboard.
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1828 Webster | 1844 Webster | 1913 Webster |
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Abacus AB'ACUS, noun [Latin anything flat, as a cupboard, a bench, a slate, a table or board for games; Gr. Usually deduced from the Oriental, abak, dust, because the ancients used tables covered with dust for making figures and diagrams.] 1. Among the Romans, a cupboard or buffet. 2. An instrument to facilitate operations in arithmetic; on this are drawn lines; a counter on the lowest line, is one; on the next, ten; on the third, a hundred, _e. On the spaces, counters denote half the number of the line above. Other schemes are called by the same name. The name is also given to a table of numbers, cast up as an abacus of addition; and by analogy, to the art of numbering, as in Knighton's Chronicon. 3. In architecture, a table constituting the upper member or crowning of a column and its capital. It is usually square, but sometimes its sides are arched inwards. The name is also given to a concave molding on the capital of the Tuscan pedestal; and to the plinth above the boultin in the Tuscan and Doric orders. AB'ACUS PYTHAGORICUS, The multiplication table, invented by Pythagoras. ABACUS HARMONICUS, The structure and disposition of the keys of a musical instrument. ABACUS MAJOR, A trough used in mines, to wash ore in.
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Hard-cover Edition |
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Compact Edition |
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217 |
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CD-ROM |
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* As a note, I have purchased each of these products. In fact, as we have been developing the Project:: 1828 Reprint, I have purchased several of the bulky hard-cover dictionaries. My opinion is that the 2000-page hard-cover edition is the only good viable solution at this time. The compact edition was a bit disappointing and the CD-ROM as well. |
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