ſome ornament, as a roſe or other flower. Scammozzi uſes abacus for a concave moulding on the capital of the Tuſcan pedeſtal; and Palladio calls the plinth above the echinus, or boultin, in the Tuſcan and Doric orders, by the ſame name. See plate 1. fig. 1. and Architecture.
Abacus is alſo the name of an ancient inſtrument facilitating operations in arithmetic. It is variously contrived. That chiefly uſed in Europe is made by drawing any number of parallel lines at the diſtance of two diameters of one of the counters uſed in the calculation. A counter placed on the loweſt line, ſignifies 1; on the 2d, 10; on the 3d, 100; on the 4th, 1000, &c. In the intermediate spaces, the ſame counters are eſtimated at one half of the value of the line immediately ſuperior, viz. between the 1ſt and 2d, 5; between the 2d and 3d, 50, &c. See plate 1. fig. 2. A B, where the ſame number, 1768 for example, is repreſented under both by different diſpoſitions of the counters.
Abacus harmonicus, among muſicians, the arrangement of the keys of a muſical inſtrument.
Abacus logiſticus, a right-angled triangle, whoſe ſides forming the right angle contain the numbers from 1 to 60, and its area the facta of every two of the numbers perpendicularly oppoſite. This is alſo called a cannon of ſexageſimals.
Abacus Pythagoricus, the multiplication-table, or any table of numbers that facilitates operations in arithmetic.
ABADAN, a town of Perſia, ſituated near the mouth of the Tygris.
ABADDON, from abad, to deſtroy; a name given by St John, in the Revelations, to the king of the locuſts.
ABADIR, a title which the Carthaginians gave to gods of the fiſt order. In the Roman mythology, it is the name of a ſtone which Saturn ſwallowed, believing it to be his new-born ſon Jupiter: hence it became the object of religious worſhip.
ABÆRE, a town in the deſarts of Arabia.
ABAFT, a ſea-term, ſignifying towards the ſtern: for inſtance, abaft the mizzen-maſt, implies, that the object is between the mizzen-maſt and the ſtern.
ABAI, in botany, a ſynonime of the calycanthus præcox, a genus of plants belonging to the icoſandria polygynia claſs of Linnæus. See Calycanthus.
ABAISSE. See Abased.
ABALIENATION. See Alienation.
ABANBO, a river of Ethiopia which falls into the Nile.
ABANCAI, or Abancays, a town and river of Peru, in the diſtrict of Lima.
ABANO, a ſmall town in Italy, ſubject to Venice, and ſituated five miles ſouth-weſt of Padua.
ABAPISTION, or Anabaptiston, an obſolete term for the chirurgical inſtrument called a trepan. See Surgery, and Trepan.
ABARCA, a ſhoe made of raw hides, formerly worn by the peaſants in Spain.
ABARTICULATION, in anatomy, a ſpecies of articulation which is now termed diarthroſis. See Anatomy, Part I. and Diarthroſis.
ABAS, a weight uſed in Perſia for weighing pearls. It is 1-8th leſs than the European carat.
ABASCIA, the country of the Alcas. See Alcas.
ABAISED, Abaiſſe, in heraldry, an epithet applied to the wings of eagles, &c. when the tip looks downwards to the point of the ſhield, or when the wings are ſhut; the natural way of bearing them being extended.
ABASING, in the ſea-languages, ſignifies the ſame as ſtriking.
ABASSI, or Abassis, a ſilver coin current in Perſia, equivalent in value to French livre or tenpence half-penny Sterling. It took its name from Schaw Abas II. king of Persſia, under whom it was ſtruck.
ABATAMENTUM, in law, is an entry to lands by interpoſition, i.e. when a perſon dies ſeized, and another who has no right enters before the heir.
ABATE, from abatre, to deſtroy; a term uſed by the writers of the common law, both in an active and neutral ſenſe; as, to abate a caſtle, is to deſtroy or beat it down; to abate a writ, is, by ſome exception to render it null and void.
Abate, in the manage, implies the performance of any downward motion properly. Hence a horſe is ſaid to abate, or take down his curvets, when he puts both his hind-legs to the ground at once, and obſerves the ſame exactneſs in all the times.
ABATEMENT, in heraldry, implies ſomething added to a coat of arms to leſſen its dignity, and point out ſome imperfection or ſtain in the character of its wearer.
Abatement, in law. See Abate.
Abatement, in commerce, ſignifies an allowance or diſcount in the price of certain commodities, in conſideration of prompt payment; a diminution in the ſtipulated quantity or quality of goods, or some such circumſtance.
Abatement, in the cuſtoms, an allowance made upon the duty of goods, when the quantum damaged is determined by the judgment of two merchants upon oath, and aſcertained by a certificate from the ſurveyor and land-waiter.
ABATIS, an ancient term for the officer of the ſtables.
ABATOR, in law, a term applied to a perſon who enters to a houſe or lands, void by the death of the laſt poſſeſſor, before the true heir.
ABAVO, in botany, a ſynonime of the adanſonia, a ſhrub belonging to the monadelphia polyandria of Linnæus. See Adansonia.
ABAYANCE. See Abeyance.
ABB, a term, among clothiers, applied to the yarn of a weaver's warp. They also say Abb-wool in the ſame ſenſe.
ABBA, in the Syriac and Chaldee languages, literally ſignifies a father; and figuratively, a ſuperior, reputed as a father in reſpect of age, dignity, or affection. It is alſo a Jewish title of honour given to ſome of the claſs called Tanaites.
ABBAT. See Abbot.
ABBATIS. See Abatis.
ABBEFORD, a ſea-port town in Norway, in 58. 44. N. lat.
ABBESS, the ſuperior of an abbey or convent of nuns, over whom ſhe has the same authority as the abbots over the monks. Their ſex indeed hinders them from per-
