ABA 



AB'ACOT, in architecture, a small member 

 representing the ahacot, or cap of state, 

 In the form of a double crown, anciently 

 worn by the kings of England. 



ABAC'TOR (Latin, from abigo, to drive 

 away), in law, one who steals numbers of 

 cattle; in distinction to one who steals 

 one or two. 



AB'ACCS, Latin, from ^a|, anything 

 flat, as a bench , a table. 1 . A small sanded 

 or waxed table, or board, oil which, of 

 old, mathematicians traced their dia- 

 grams, and children wore tausrht to write. 

 2. An instrument to facilitate arithme- 

 tical calculations, similar to the swanpan 

 of the Chinese. It consisted of a board of 

 an oblong figure F 1 divided by lines or 

 cords. A counter placed on the lower 

 line denoted one, on the second ten, on 

 the third a hundred, &c. : on the spaces 

 between the lines, counters denoted half 

 as much as on the lines immediately above. 

 Other schemes are called by the same 



name. 3. In architecture, the upper 



member of the capital of a Greek Doric 

 column, and a collection of members or 

 mouldings, serving; as a kind of crowning 

 in other orders. It is usually square, but 

 In the Corinthian order it is encurvated, 

 which curving is called the arch of the 

 abacus. The upper member of the abacus 

 In this order is sometimes called the boul- 

 tine, or enrhinus: the member under it, 

 the fillet : and the third and undermost 

 member, the plinth. See. CAPITAL. 4. A 

 table of numbers ready cast up, to ex- 

 pedite arithmetical operations, e. g. the 

 Abacus Pythngoricus, the common multi- 

 plication table, invented by Pythagoras : 

 the Abacus Logisticus, or cation of sexage- 

 simals, is a rcctangled triangle, whose 

 sides forming the right angle contain the 

 numbers from 1 to 60, and its area the 

 result of each pair of the numbers per- 

 pendicularly opposite. 



ABACUS HARMONIOUS, the structure and 

 disposition of the keys of a musical in- 

 strument. 



ABACUS MAJOR, a trough to wash ore 

 in. 



ABAD'DON, from abad, to be lost. The 

 destroying angel of the bottomless pit. 

 Rev. ix. The bottomless pit. Milton. 



ASAFT, from Sax. beceftan, to be behind 

 in place. The situation of anything placed 

 towards the stem of the ship: opposed to 

 afore. Relatively it means farther aft, or 

 nearer the stern. Contr. aft. 



AB'AGUX, the name of an Ethiopian 

 fowl, remarkable for a sort of horn on its 

 head. The name means proud abbot. 



ABAI'SIR, spodiuui, burnt ivory, or 

 Ivory-black. 



AEAISSED, Fr. abaisse, depressed. In 

 heraldry, applied to the -wings of eagles, 

 to., wheu the line are depreMed below 



ABA 



the centre of the shield or shut. Thi 

 natural bearing is volant, (q. v.) 



ABALIENA'TION, from ab and alienation, 

 (q. v.). In law, transferring title to pro- 

 perty from one to another. In medicine, 

 decay of body or mind. 



ABANDONMENT, from abandon, to for- 

 sake entirely. In commerce and naviga- 

 tion, the relinquishing to underwriters 

 all the property saved from loss by ship- 

 wreck, capture, or other peril stated in 

 the policy. The abandonment being made, 

 the insured claims indemnification for a 

 total loss. 



AB'ANET, in surgery, a bandage resem- 

 bling the abanet, or girdle, worn by Jew- 

 ish priests. 



ABAN'GA, thea<fy,a species of palm-tree 

 in the West Indies. It furnishes a juice 

 of which a species of fermented drink is 

 made. 



AfiAPTis'TON.in surgery, the perforating 

 part of the trephine : der. at, not, and 

 pavrti, to dip, because it was made with 

 abapiista, or shoulders, so as not to enter 

 the brain. 



from ab and articula- 



tion, (q. v.) In anatomy, that articulation 

 of joints which admits of manifest motion. 

 Syn. diarthrosis, (q. v.) 



ABAS', a Persian weight for pearls equal 

 to seven-eighths of a carat. 



ABASED, in heraldry, the same with 

 abaissed, (q. v.) 



ABASSI, or ABASSIS, a Persian silver 

 coin of the value of ten pence stei'ling. 



ABATAMEN*TUM,from abate. In late, an 

 entry of a freehold, when a person dies 

 seised, and another enters before the heir. 



ABATE, Fr. abattre, to beat down, to 

 destroy, e. g. in law, to abate a castle is 

 to pull it down: to abate a writ, is to 

 overthrow or defeat it : to abate by covin, 

 to overthrow by deceit. In horseiiianship, 

 a horse is said" to abate when, working 

 upon curvets, he puts both hind legs down 

 at once, and Observes the same exactness 

 in all the times. 



ABA'TEMBKT, from abate. In commerce, 

 1. An allowance or discount for prompt 

 payment ; 2. A deduction sometimes made 

 at the custom-house from the duties 

 chargeable upon such goods as are da- 

 maged. Srn. rebate. Ill heraldry, a mark 

 of dishonour in a coat of arms. In laic, 

 the English word for abatamentum, (q. v.) 



ABATIS, or ABATTIS, from ec, not, and 

 /STf, pervious. In tear, a temporary 

 work, made of felled trees, with the 

 branches pointed outwards. 



ABATOR, from abate. In law, a person 

 who intrudes into a freehold on the death 

 of the last possessor before the heir. Set 

 ABATAMENTUM. 



ABE, yarn for the warp of a wpb. 



AB'BA, the Syrian and Chaldce name 



