abacus
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
6 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "abacus", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "abacus" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "abacus" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
abacus is aEnglishnoun. It means: A table or tray scattered with sand which was used for calculating or drawing. Pronounced /ˈæbəkəs/. Often confused with amicus and aback.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | abacus |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈæbəkəs/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #44,033 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for abacus is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈæbəkəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #44,033 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for abacus, with forms such as "aabcus", "abaccus", and "abacsu". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "amicus", "aback", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Middle English abacus, abagus, agabus (“abacus; art of counting with an abacus”), from Latin abacus, abax (“sideboard or table with a slab at the top; slab at the top of a column; counting board, sand table; board for playing games”) (compare Late… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is abacus, spelled A-B-A-C-U-S, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1A table or tray scattered with sand which was used for calculating or drawing.
- 2A device used for performing arithmetical calculations; (rare) a table on which loose counters are placed, or (more commonly) an instrument with beads sliding on rods, or counters in grooves, with one row of beads or counters representing units, the next tens, etc.
- 3The uppermost portion of the capital of a column immediately under the architrave, in some cases a flat oblong or square slab, in others more decorated.
- 4A board, tray, or table, divided into perforated compartments for holding bottles, cups, or the like; a kind of buffet, cupboard, or sideboard.
Etymology
From Late Middle English abacus, abagus, agabus (“abacus; art of counting with an abacus”), from Latin abacus, abax (“sideboard or table with a slab at the top; slab at the top of a column; counting board, sand table; board for playing games”) (compare Late Latin abacus (“art of arithmetic”)), from Ancient Greek ἄβαξ (ábax, “slab, counting board; board covered with sand for drawing; plate; dice-board”). Doublet of abaque. The plural form abaci is reinforced from Latin abacī.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aabcus,abaccus,abacsu,abacuss,abaucs,abbacus,abcaus,baacus
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for abacus
Misspelling Variants of "abacus"
Frequency rank: #44,033 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter A in our English index: