α. Middle English abaciste, 1700s– abacist.
β. 1700s–1800s abacista.
abacistn.
/ˈabəsɪst/, U.S. /ˈæbəsəst/ A person who makes calculations using an abacus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical instruments > [noun] > arithmetical instrument > abacus > user of
abacista1387
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 69 (MED) Girebertus..took Agabus of Sarsyns and ȝaf rules þerynne, þat mowe unneþe be understonde of þe kunnyngeste men of þe craft; þe whiche craftes men beþ cleped abaciste [L. Vix ab acutis abacistis intelliguntur].
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. (at cited word) Abacist, Abacista, in writers of the middle and barbarous ages, denotes an arithmetician, or accomptant.
1825 T. D. Fosbroke Encycl. Antiq. I. x. 357 John XV..learned the abacus from the Saracens of Spain, the rules of which..were scarcely understood by the most laborious Abacists.
1872 Wharton's Law Lexicon (ed. 5) Abacist or Abacista, a caster of accounts, an arithmetician.
1893 F. Cajori Hist. Math. (1894) 122 Indeed, the methods of adding, subtracting, and multiplying in vogue among the abacists agree substantially with those of to-day.
1912 Eng. Hist. Rev. 27 103 Like other abacists, Thurkil confines himself to multiplication, division, and fractions.
1955 Lowell (Mass.) Sun 16 Apr. 6/2 In a contest a Japanese abacist beat an American operating a modern calculating machine.
1997 Spy (N.Y.) Mar. 52/2 By his own reckoning..Pecker's metamorphosis from pocket-protected abacist to hard-nosed publishing visionary has been relatively successful.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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