noun · masculinesecond declension
abacus
abacus m (genitive abacī)
Classical[ˈa.ba.kʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈaː.ba.kus]
Meaning
- masculinesquare board
- masculinesideboard
Ab hoc abaci vasa omnia, ut exposita fuerunt, abstulit.
From this place he removed all the sideboard's dishes, since they had been exposed.70 BCE, Cicero, In Verrem II.4.35 - masculinecounting board, abacus
...nec qui abaco numeros et secto in pulvere metas / scit risisse vafer, multum gaudere paratus, / si cynico barbam petulans nonaria vellat.
...nor the man who has the wit to laugh at the figures on the counting board and the cones drawn in sand, ready to go off in ecstasies if a prostitute pulls a Cynic by the beard.c. 62 CE, Persius, Saturae I.131 - masculinegaming board
Sed cum inter initia imperii eburneis quadrigis cotidie in abaco luderet, ad omnis etiam minimos circenses e secessu commeabat, primo clam, deinde propalam, ut nemini dubium esset eo die utique affuturum.
But in the early stages of his rule he used to play every day on a gaming board with ivory chariots. He would also travel from his retreat to the Circus games, even the least important ones, at first in secret and then openly. As a result, no one was in any doubt that he would be present in Rome that day at least.121 CE, Suetonius, De vita Caesarum Vita Neronis 22 - masculineA painted ceiling or wall panel.
Hoc autem et Attico ad lumina utuntur, ad abacos non nisi marmoroso, quoniam marmor in eo resistit amaritudini calcis.
This and the Attic sort they used for high lights, for panels none but the marmorean kind, because the marble in it resists acridity of the lime.77 CE – 79 CE, Plinius Maior, Naturalis Historia XXXIII.56 - masculinepanel
- masculinetray
- Late Latinmasculinecalculation in general
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | abacus abaculus | abacī abacēs, abaculī |
| genitive | abacī abaculī | abacōrum abaculōrum |
| dative | abacō abaculō | abacīs abacibus, abaculīs |
| accusative | abacum abacem, abaculum | abacōs abacēs, abaculōs |
| ablative | abacō abaculō | abacīs abacibus, abaculīs |
| vocative | abace abacule | abacī abacēs, abaculī |
ăbăcus, i (according to Prisc. 752 P. also ăbax, ăcis; cf. id. p. 688), m.,=ἄβαξ, α^κος, prop.
I. a square tablet; hence, in partic.,
I. A sideboard, the top of which was made of marble, sometimes of silver, gold, or other precious material, chiefly used for the display of gold and silver vessels, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 16, § 35; 2, 4, 25, § 57; id. Tusc. 5, 21, 61; Varr. L. L. 9, § 46 Mūll.; Plin. 37, 2, 6, § 14; Juv. 3, 2-0-4:
perh. also called mensae Delphicae, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 59 init. Zumpt; Mart. 12, 67. Accord. to Liv. 39, 6, 7, and Plin. 34, 3, 8, § 14, Cn. Manlius Vulso first brought them from Asia to Rome, B.C. 187, in his triumph over the Galatae; cf. Becker, Gall. 2, p. 258 (2d edit.).—II. A gaming-board, divided into compurtments, for playing with dice or counters, Suet. Ner. 22; Macr. S. 1, 5.—
III. A counting-table, covered with sand or dust, and used for arithmetical computation, Pers. 1, 131; App. Mag. p. 284; cf. Becker, Gall. 2, p. 65. —
IV. A wooden tray, Cato, R. R. 10, 4.—
V. A painted panel or square compartment in the wall or ceiling of a chamber, Vitr. 7, 3, 10; Plin. 33, 12, 56, § 159; 35, 1, 1, § 3, and 35, 6, 13, § 32.—
VI. In architecture, a fiat, square stone on the top of a column, immediately under the architrave, Vitr. 3, 5, 5 sq.; 4, 1, 11 sq.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
abacus ī, m
a table of precious material for the display of plate, C.; luv.
Origins
From Ancient Greek ἄβαξ (ábax, “board”).
Descendants
- Italianabbaco
- Catalanàbac
- Englishabacus
- Frenchabaque
- Romanianabacfrom French abaque
- GermanAbakus
- Italianabaco
- Portugueseábaco
- Spanishábaco
- Esperantoabako
In English words that came into English from abacus
- abacusabacus
- abacistabacista
- abaculusabaculus
- abacabacus
- abackabacus