Definition of the word abacus

The word "abacus" originates from the ancient Greek language, specifically from the word "abakon" which means "a dust shaker." It is said that in ancient Greece, merchants would shake dust or sand through the lines of the abacus to clear it after use. The abacus itself, also known as a counting frame, is an ancient calculating tool that has been used for over 2,000 years. The earliest known abacus was discovered in China and dates back to the 14th century BC. However, the Greek variant of the abacus, known as the "kalōs kai agathos," or "beautiful and good," became popular in ancient Greece during the 7th century BC. The Greek abacus consisted of a wooden frame with three vertical bars arranged in a cosine manner. Each vertical bar held a series of disks or beads that could be sliding or fixed. The beads represented the numeric value of a digit, and the position they occupied determined their value, with the leftmost bead representing the highest value and successive beads decreasing in value. By arranging and manipulating the beads on the abacus, ancient Greeks could perform basic arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Overall, the Greek term "abakon" evolved into the English word "abacus," preserving the memory of its history and origin as an instrument used to calculate and count.