Volume 1
Universal technological dictionary, or, Familiar explanations of the terms used in all arts and sciences containing definitions drawn from the original writers, and illustrated by plates, epigrams, cuts, &c. / by George Crabb.
- Date:
- 1823
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Universal technological dictionary, or, Familiar explanations of the terms used in all arts and sciences containing definitions drawn from the original writers, and illustrated by plates, epigrams, cuts, &c. / by George Crabb. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
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![A (Algeb.) as a sign, stands for the known quantity; as, a, b, c, in distinction from the unknown quantities x, x. [vide Algebra] A [Her.) as a sign, stands for the dexter chief, or chief point in an escutcheon, [vide Heraldry] A (Ckem.) when treble, as A.A.A. denotes amalgama, or amalgamation. A [Log.) is employed as a sign to denote an universal affirma- tive proposition, according to the verse, Asserit A, negat E, verum generaliter amha. Thus in the first mood, a syllogism consisting of three universal propositions, is said to be in bhrbArA, the A thrice repeated denoting three universal propositions, [vide Logic'] A (Gram.) in words of Greek derivation, as a preposition in composition, has a privative or negative sense; as acata- leclic, &c.; in Saxon words it is equivalent to on or i?!, as ashore, abed, &c. A (Med.) marked thus. A, is used in prescriptions for the Greek preposition ciia, each, as A, or A.JE.F. of each, i. e. of each ingredient, equal parts. A ( Alch.) i. e. a, alpha, stands for the restitution of a long life, a, ome(ra, for the end. AABA'N {Ciiem.) lead. AA'M [Com.) a liquid measure at Amsterdam, containing about sixty-three pounds Avoirdupois weight. AA'NES {Mus.) the modes and tones of the modern Greeks. AAVO'RA [Bot.) a species of palm. AB [Ant.), as a preposition, is employed with nouns to denote a relation, office, &c. after the same manner as a ; as, ab epistolis, a scribe or secretary, to be found on inscrip- tions and elsewhere. SEX. POMPEIUS. SEX. F. FELIX. SEX, POMPEII. AB. EPISTOLIS. Sextus Pompeius Sexti Jilius, Felix Sexti Pompeii ab epistolis. [vide A.] Ab [Arch(Bol.) as an abbreviation, stands for abbot or abbey, and when affixed to the names of places, it shows, probably, that they belonged to some abbey. Blount. Ab [Chron.) the fifth month of the Jewish sacred year, and the eleventh of the civil year. A'BAB [Mil.) a sort of militia among the Turks. ABA'BlLO [My.) or Abibil; an unknown or fabulous bird, mentioned in the Koran. Said Ben Giabin asserts that it had the beak of a bird and the foot of a dog. Bocli. Hieroz. L 6, c. 14. A'BACA [Com.) a sort of hemp or flax, prepared from an Indian plantain. ABACINA'RE [Archccol.) to deprive of one's eyes, parti- cularly by red hot irons, which the Italians call bacini. ABACl'STA [ArchcEol.) Aoyis-ixi?, ratiocinator, in the East algorisia, in Italian, abbachierc, and abbachista ; an arith- metician, or one who addicted himself to the study of the abacus. Abacum certc primus Gebertus a Saracenis capiens regulas dedit, quae a sudantibus Abacistis vix intclliguntur. JVill. Mulmesb. Hist. Angl. 1. 2, c. 10. ABA'CK [Mar.) the situation of ihe sails of a ship when they arc pressed against the masts by the force of the wind; so the sails are said to be taken aback when by a change of wind or otherwise they are put into that situa- tion, or laid aback to effect an immediate retreat. A'BACOT [Archccol.) a cap of state in the form of a double crown, worn by the ancient kings of England. Chron. An. I4-G3. ABA'CTOIl [Aichaol.) from abigo, to drive away: a stealer of cattle in herds or large numbers, in distinction from the fur, or thief, who took one or two. Isidor. Etymol. 1. 12. A'BACUS [Ant.) from 'ifial, ct/3ax.o^, i. e. «, priv. and flain?, not having a basis or stand : I. A cup-board or board fixed against the wall, on which were placed the cups and vessels for supper. Juv. Sat. 3, v. 203. Lectus erat Codro Proculd minor, urceoli sex Ornamentum abaci. Cic. in Verr. 1. 4. c. 16 ; Liv. I. 39, c. 7; Plin. i. 37, c. 2; Buleng. tie hnperat. Rom. \. 2, c. 34 ; Salinas, ad Jus. Attic et Rom. c. 23. 2. A draught or dice-board, on which the ancients used to play with dice or small stones. Macrob. Saturn. 1. 5; Stuck. Ant. Conviv. 1. 11, c. 16; Buleng. de Lud. Vet. c. 58. Abacus [Math.) Heb. pi«, abak. Mensula hyalini pul- veris respersione colorata, in qua calculatores numeros et figuras delineant. Mart. Capell. de Septem. Lib. Art. 1. 6» Pers. Sat. I, v. 131. Nec qui abaco numeros et secto in puloere metas Scit lisisse vafer. The abacus was an instrument for calculations, used, with some variations, both by the ancients and moderns, consisting of a board of an oblong figure, divided by several lines or wires, and mounted with an equal number of little ivory balls or pegs, by the arrangement of which they expressed units, tens, hundreds, thousands, &c. ac- cording to the subjoined figure. 10,000 1000 100 10 1 The value of each ball or peg on the lowest line is ], on the second 10, on the third 100, on the fourth 1000, on the fifth 10,000 ; and the balls in the middle spaces signify half as much as each of those in the lines above them: the amount of all the balls represented in the above figure will, therefore, be 37,391. Bud. in Pandect, p. 128 ; Vola- terran. Comm. Urban, p. 1033 ; Ferret. Mus. Lapid. 1. 1, Memor. 33; Velser. Rer. Vindel. p. 221 ; Ful. Ursin. et Ciaccon. in Explic. Inscr. Diulliance et Lib. de Numm.; Ant. Augiistin. Niimis. Dial. 9; Pignor. Comm. de Serv. p. 339. Abacus Pythagoricus [Arith.) the table of Pythagorag, for the more easy learning of numbers and calculations, similar to our multiplication table. Abacus Logisticus, a right-angled triangle, whose sides, about the right angle, contain all the numbers from J to 60, and its area, the products of each two of the opposite numbers : also called a canon of sexagesimals, which is in fact a multiplication table carried to 60 both ways. Abacus, also Arithmetic itself, according to Lucas Pac- ciolus, probably contracted from Arabicus. Abacus [Archil.) or Abaciscus, the upper member of the capital of a column, which serves as a crowning to the whole. The invention is ascribed to Callimachus, a statuary of Athens, who took the idea from an acanthus growing out from a basket covered with a tile, so as to form a kind of scroll after the shape of the tile, whence he made tlie abacus to be represented by the tile, the acanthus by the volutes, and the basket by the body of the capital. In the Tuscan, Doric, and Ionic orders, the Abacus is most commonly square ; but in the Corinthian and Composite orders its figure varies, the four faces being circular, and hollowed inwards, the four corners cut off, ^ as in the annexed figure, where a b c d re- present a square, equal to the plinth of the base; a b, be, c d, and a d, the circular arches, drawn from centres that are the vertices of equilateral triangles: then if the ends of the arches be cut off by the equal lines A B, CD, E F, G H, the figure ABCDEFGH](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2199304x_0001_0014.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
