abacus

[ab-uh-kuhs, uh-bak-uhs]

noun

plural

abacuses, abaci 

1. a device for making arithmetic calculations, consisting of a frame set with rods on which balls or beads are moved.

2. Architecture.,  a slab forming the top of the capital of a column.

abacus

/ ˈæbəkəs /

noun

1. 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

2. architect the flat upper part of the capital of a column

Word History and Origins

Origin of abacus¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin: board, counting board, re-formed < Greek ábax

Word History and Origins

Origin of abacus¹

C16: from Latin, from Greek abax board covered with sand for tracing calculations, from Hebrew ābhāq dust

Example Sentences

Cassiopeia proved it by using her fingers to do sums on her abacus, and flicked the beads up and down with nary a wince.

Read more on Literature

The sails had gone slack, and the disappointed girl slumped in one of the cozy nursery chairs and clicked idly at the beads of her abacus: back and forth, back and forth.

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“No, we do not need a sextant—nor an abacus, Cassiopeia, please put that back.”

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Much of the buzz around the subject in recent years has been about the development of powerful quantum computers which, the narrative goes, will make our fastest supercomputers seem like abacuses by comparison.

Read more on BBC

Recently, a lovely and well-meaning friend texted me one of those trending articles that make you want to trade your smartphone for an abacus and never speak of the internet again.

Read more on New York Times

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