abacus

abacus — noun

1. a wooden or plastic counting device made up of beads that slide along thin rods

1.名詞C1
釋義

a wooden or plastic counting device made up of beads that slide along thin rods inside a frame, used by hand to add, subtract, and do other simple math.

例句

Mr. Lin showed the children how to add numbers on a small wooden abacus.

collocation: add numbers on an abacus

Aiko's grandmother can multiply faster on an abacus than most people can on a phone.

comparative: faster on an abacus than

同義詞
  • counting frame

    plain descriptive name, common in classroom contexts

  • soroban

    Japanese-style abacus with one bead above the bar and four below

  • suanpan

    traditional Chinese abacus with two beads above and five below

用法筆記

Almost always countable and singular with 'an'. The plural is usually spelled 'abacuses', though 'abaci' also appears in older texts. The verb most often used with it is 'use', followed by a 'to'-infinitive describing the calculation.

常見錯誤

❌I calculated it by abacus.
✅I calculated it on an abacus.
💡use the preposition 'on' (or 'with'), not 'by', for the tool itself.
❌He bought two abacus.
✅He bought two abacuses.
💡the standard English plural adds '-es'.

2. in classical architecture, the flat square or shaped stone block that crowns a c

2.名詞C2
釋義

in classical architecture, the flat square or shaped stone block that crowns a column's decorated head and directly supports the beam resting above it.

例句

The marble abacus on each Doric column carries the weight of the long stone beam above.

architecture: abacus on a column

On the temple in Athens, every abacus is cut from a single block of white stone.

同義詞
  • impost

    broader term for a stone block carrying an arch or beam

  • capstone

    general term for any top stone, not limited to columns

反義詞
  • base

    the matching block at the bottom of a column

用法筆記

Restricted to architecture and art-history writing; learners are unlikely to meet this sense outside specialist texts. Often appears with words like 'capital', 'column', 'Doric', 'Ionic', or 'Corinthian'.

常見錯誤

❌The abacus of the column had a clock on it.
✅The capital of the column had a clock on it.
💡the abacus is only the small flat top piece, not the whole decorated head.