Look up: abacus

1. 
   Abacus
   Flat portion on top of a capital.
   Found on http://www.castlesontheweb.com/glossary.
   
   
2. 
   Abacus
   An abacus is a counting frame with balls sliding on wires. It was first used before the adoption of the ten digit numeric system and is still widely used in China.
   Found on http://www.encyclo.co.uk/nol.php
   
   
3. 
   abacus
   This was a wooden frame with beads on it. It was used to help children with counting sums.
   Found on http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/victorians/
   
   
4. 
   abacus
   [n] - a tablet placed horizontally on top of the capital of a column as an aid in supporting the architrave 2. [n] - a calculator that performs arithmetic functions by manually sliding counters on rods or in grooves
   Found on http://www.webdictionary.co.uk/definitio
   
   
5. 
   Abacus
   flat portion on top of a capital
   Found on http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/glossary.
   
   
6. 
   Abacus
   Counting using coloured balls on a wire frame. Early calculator. Click here to see image of an Abacus
   Found on http://www.leadminingmuseum.co.uk/Glossa
   
   
7. 
   Abacus
   The top part of a capital, not to be confused with an impost. Both of these terms have their roots in classical architecture. In a classical context the abacus is the upper part of a capital that the entablature rests on, while the impost is a heavy stone supporting an arch. Transferring the terms to medieval buildings has caused endless confusion and heated disagreements. The distinction applied here is explained more fully under impost.
   Found on http://www.crsbi.ac.uk/crsbi/frglossary.
   
   
8. 
   abacus
   a device for performing calculations by sliding beads or counters along rods.An early(3000 B.C.)form of biquinary calculator Category: Automation (includes telecommunications and computers)
   Found on http://www.mijnwoordenboek.nl/definition
   
   
9. 
   Abacus
   the flat slab which sits on top of a capital. See Classical Architecture.
   Found on http://www.trp.dundee.ac.uk/research/glo
   
   
10. 
    Abacus
    In architecture, a flat slab that sits on top of a capital and beneath the architrave. It is also called an impost block. Also see: capital, column, cornice, Corinthian, Doric, entablature, frieze, Ionic, shaft, stylobate.
    Found on http://www.virtualani.org/glossary/index
    
    
11. 
    abacus
    See COLUMN.
    Found on http://www.antique-crafts.co.uk/glossary
    
    
12. 
    Abacus
    Definition (keystage 2) An ancient device used for counting. It was widely used by the Greeks and Romans who moved stones on a flat table marked with lines to show ones, tens, hundreds and so on. Nowadays it is used in some Eastern countries with beads sliding on horizontal wires. Counting frames are still used in many British schools today.
    Found on http://thesaurus.maths.org/mmkb/entry.ht
    
    
13. 
    Abacus
    Ab'a·cus (ăb'ȧ*kŭs) noun ; English plural Abacuses ; Latin plural Abaci (-sī). [ Latin abacus , abax , Greek 'a`bax ] 1. A table or tray strewn with sand, anciently used for drawing, calculating, etc. [ Obsolete] 2. A calculating table or frame; an instrument for performing arithmetical calculations by balls sl ...
    Found on http://www.encyclo.co.uk/webster/A/1
    
    
14. 
    abacus
    1. 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. It is still employed in China. ... 3. The uppermost member or ...
    Found on http://www.mondofacto.com/facts/dictiona
    
    
15. 
    abacus
    noun a calculator that performs arithmetic functions by manually sliding counters on rods or in grooves
    Found on http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?
    
    
16. 
    Abacus
    An `abacus` (plurals `abacuses` or `abaci`), also called a `counting frame`, is a calculating tool for performing arithmetic processes. Nowadays, abaci are often constructed as a wooden frame with beads sliding on wires, but originally they were beads or stones moved in grooves in sand or on tablets of wood, stone, or metal. The abacus was in use centuries before the adoption of the written modern numeral system and is still widely used by mercha...
    Found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abacus
    
    
17. 
    Abacus
    • (n.) A table or tray strewn with sand, anciently used for drawing, calculating, etc. • (n.) 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. • (n.) The...
    Found on http://thinkexist.com/dictionary/meaning
    
    
18. 
    abacus
    (from the article `capital`) Two simple forms of the capital are a square wooden block called an abacus, placed on the top of a post, and an oblong block called a billet, set ... ...of the shaft but which is set off from it visually by one or more narrow grooves; the echinus, a circular block that bulges outward at its ... [2 related...
    Found on http://www.britannica.com/eb/a-z/a/2
    
    
19. 
    abacus
    calculating device, probably of Babylonian origin, that was long important in commerce. It is the ancestor of the modern calculating machine and ... [4 related articles]
    Found on http://www.britannica.com/eb/a-z/a/2
    
    
20. 
    abacus
    abacus (s); abaci (pl) 1. A manual computing device consisting of a frame holding parallel rods strung with movable counters. 2. In architecture, a slab on the top of the capital of a column.
    Found on http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/inf
    
    
21. 
    Abacus
    The topmost member of the capital of a column.
    Found on http://www.artisansofthevalley.com/comm_
    
    
22. 
    abacus
    Chinese abacus A counting frame that started out, several thousand years ago, as rows of pebbles in the desert sands of the Middle East. The word appears to come from the Hebrew âbâq ('dust') or the Phoenician abak ('sand') via the Greek abax, which refers to a small tray covered with sand to h...
    Found on http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedi
    
    
23. 
    abacus
    abacus (ăb'ukus, ubăk'–) , in mathematics, simple device for performing arithmetic calculations. The type of abacus now best known is represented by a frame with sliding counters. An elementary abacus might have ten parallel wires strung between two boards on a frame, with ...
    Found on http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A08020
    
    
24. 
    abacus
    abacus (ăb'ukus) , in architecture, flat slab forming the top member of a capital. In classical orders it varies from a square form having unmolded sides in the Greek Doric, to thinner proportions and ovolo molding in the Greek Ionic, and to sides incurving and corners cut in Roman Ionic a...
    Found on http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A08020