English edit

Etymology edit

From Latin abaculus, diminutive of abacus.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

abaculus (plural abaculi)

  1. (archaic) A small tile of glass, marble, or other substance, of various colors, used in making ornamental patterns in mosaic pavements; abaciscus.

Translations edit

Latin edit

Etymology edit

From abacus (a square board, tablet, panel) +‎ -ulus (diminutive suffix), from Ancient Greek ἄβαξ (ábax, board).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

abaculus m (genitive abaculī); second declension

  1. Diminutive of abacus (square tablet, panel): abaculus
    • c. 77 CE – 79 CE, Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 36.67:
      Tingit ars, veluti cum calculi fiunt, quos quidam abaculos appellant, aliquos etiam pluribus modis versicolores.
      The craft dyes, like they are made of tiles, those which are called abaculi, some of which are made varicolored in many ways.

Declension edit

Second-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative abaculus abaculī
Genitive abaculī abaculōrum
Dative abaculō abaculīs
Accusative abaculum abaculōs
Ablative abaculō abaculīs
Vocative abacule abaculī

Descendants edit

  • English: abaculus
  • French: abacule
  • Portuguese: abáculo

References edit

  • abaculus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • abaculus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
  • abaculus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • abaculus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin