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    Where do we get the name "abacus" for the counting device used by the Chinese and others?

    Question #100997. Asked by star_gazer. (Nov 14 08 7:45 PM)


    author

    		The use of the word abacus dates before 1387 AD, when a Middle English work borrowed the word from Latin to describe a sandboard abacus. The Latin word came from abakos, Hebrew ābāq, "dust.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abacus

    Nov 14 08, 7:55 PM
    albtucker

    		Abacus is a Latin word that has its origins in the Greek words abax or abakon (meaning "table" or "tablet") which in turn, possibly originated from the Semitic word abq, meaning "sand"

    http://www.ee.ryerson.ca/~elf/abacus/history.html

    Nov 14 08, 11:45 PM
    Arpeggionist

    		I heard it was really a play on the letters "ABC" used for arithmetic purposes in ancient Greek and Hebrew cultures (the old trick still known in Hebrew today by the Greek word "g'matria"), thus "A-B-C-us" is a simple counting or adding device.

    Nov 15 08, 10:13 AM

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