abacus
a device for making arithmetic calculations, consisting of a frame set with rods on which balls or beads are moved.
Architecture. a slab forming the top of the capital of a column.
Origin of abacus
1Words Nearby abacus
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use abacus in a sentence
Thus, Goldman found them a willing buyer for the junk piled into abacus.
But abacus and similar deals were already sucking money out of Rhineland, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Every Asian capital is like a giant abacus, constantly calculating the relative power of competing states.
The height of the abacus is one seventh of the height of the capital.
Ten Books on Architecture | VitruviusThe flowers on the four sides are to be made as large as the height of the abacus.
Ten Books on Architecture | Vitruvius
The abacus has a width equivalent to the thickness of the bottom of a column.
Ten Books on Architecture | VitruviusIt is further distinguished by the use of the zero, which enabled the computer to dispense with the columns of the abacus.
The Earliest Arithmetics in English | AnonymousOur next idea would be to put a conical shaped stone beneath this abacus, to support its outer edge, as at b.
The Stones of Venice, Volume I (of 3) | John Ruskin
British Dictionary definitions for abacus
/ (ˈæbəkəs) /
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
architect the flat upper part of the capital of a column
Origin of abacus
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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