abacus
Americannoun
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a device for making arithmetic calculations, consisting of a frame set with rods on which balls or beads are moved.
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Architecture. a slab forming the top of the capital of a column.
noun
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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
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architect the flat upper part of the capital of a column
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of abacus
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin: board, counting board, re-formed < Greek ábax
Explanation
An abacus is an ancient tool used for calculating that remains popular in some places even today. Some sort of counter (beads, beans, stones) is moved in a groove or on a wire to represent the different numbers in the equation. Abacus is a Latin word from a Greek word abax, which meant "counting table." The original abaci were created in sand. The plural abacuses can also be used. In architecture, an abacus can also refer to a flat slab that sits on top of the broad part of a pillar or column (called the capital) to help support a beam (called an architrave) that rests across several pillars.
Vocabulary lists containing abacus
The Westing Game
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"Love's Vocabulary," Vocabulary from the essay
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The Night Diary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That speech raised his profile both abroad and at home, said David Coletto, a Canadian pollster and CEO of Abacus Data.
From BBC • Apr. 26, 2026
“You can always decide to go from an inherited spouse IRA to your own IRA down the road,” Stephen Maggard, a certified financial planner at Abacus Planning Group.
From MarketWatch • Nov. 1, 2025
The perception that Ford is “standing up for Ontario,” is anchoring his support, Abacus said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 24, 2025
Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve charges that it cheated Abacus investors by concealing Paulson's role, including how he made a $1 billion profit by betting that the sale of collateralized debt obligations would fail.
From Reuters • Aug. 10, 2023
The thickness of the Abacus is a 7th. part of the whole Capital.
From An Abridgment of the Architecture of Vitruvius Containing a System of the Whole Works of that Author by Perrault, Claude
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
