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is likewise the first Letter of the Greek Alphabet, which in Composition denotes sometimes Privation, and comes from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 without; sometimes Augmentation, from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,
much; and sometimes Union, from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to∣gether. It was used for the most part for a Let∣ter of Order to denote the First, and of Num∣ber to signifie One; but when it was a Nume∣ral Letter, a little Stroke or an Acute Accent was drawn above it thus 'A, to distinguish it from the A which was a Letter of Order.
Alpha and Omega in the Divine Writings sig∣nifie the Beginning and the End, and therefore the Hi••••oglyphic of God is marked with these two Letters, A and Ω, as if you should say, that God is the Beginning and End of all things; and so God himself says in the Revelations, I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. Thus Virgil having a mind to bestow a singular Encomium upon Augustus, by an Excess of Flat∣tery, tells him,
A te principium, tibi definet.
☧ These three Characters were anciently en∣graven upon the Tombs of the Catholicks, to distinguish them from the Arrians: for the Name of JESUS CHRIST was signified, as he himself says in the Gospel, by these two Letters, A which is the first of the Greek Al∣phabet, and Ω which is the last of it; Ege sum Alpha & Omega, principium & finis: and from hence he proves that he was truly God as well as his Father, which the Arrians deny'd. They are also to be met with in the Letters Patents of Christian Princes, and on the Collars of Slaves.
Alpha mark'd with a spiritus asper, and an acute Accent A, is also used for the Pro∣nouns ea and sua, in Homer and others: but with a spiritus asper and a circumflex Accent 〈◊〉〈◊〉, it signifies the same with 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, ubi, as may be seen in the Poet Theocritus. Alpha with a spiritus lenis and a circumflex Accent A•, is an Interjection of one who is in some trouble, which moves him to complain or admire; but when it is doubled with a spiritus lenis and a circumflex Ac∣cent, it is an Interjection of one who is in a mighty Consternation, being under some great Affliction; if it be doubled and mark'd with a spiritus lenis and a grave Accent A•, it is an Inter∣jection of one who is transported with Joy, or the agreeable Surprise of something very plea∣sant.
ABA••, is a Greek Word, from whose Ge∣nitive 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the Latins have formed their Word Abacus, which has many Significations: for it signifies sometimes an ABC, sometimes a Table of Numbers for casting up Accompts, which was of Brass, and called by the Ancients The Table of Pythagoras. It signified also the Fi∣gures of Numbers, and the Arithmetical Cha∣racters, which were drawn upon a Table co∣ver'd with Dust or small Sand, according to the Testimony of Martianus Capella, and of Per∣sius in Sat. 1. ver. 131.
Nec qui Abac•• numeros & secto in pulvere mot••••. Scit resesse vnfer.—
It signifies also a Cupboard, which the Italians call Credenza, upon which were plac'd in order the Pots, Glasses, and the Dessert of a Feast, viz. the Salads and Sweet-meats, and on which the Carver cut out the several sorts of Meat, and serv'd up some part of them in Plates to each of the Guests. In Vitruvius, and all those who have treated of Architecture, Abacus is nothing else but the four-squar'd Table which makes the Capital at the top of a Column, and which, in the Corinthian Order of work, repre∣sents that kind of Square Tile which covers a Basket or Pannier when it seems encompass'd with Leaves, but in the Corinthian Composite, or the Modern Ionick Order, which was taken from the Temple of Concord, and other anci∣ent Temples, it was dug and cut inwards.
AB-ADDIR (a Term of Mythology) is the Name of a Stone which Saturn swallow'd, according to the Fable, instead of Jupiter: for he knowing that the Fates had decreed he should be dethroned by one of his Children, eat them all up to preserve himself from them, till such time as Ops his Wife put a trick upon him, and made him swallow this Stone instead of Jupiter whom she had a mind to save. Pris∣cian and Isidore in their Glosses make mention of it, and Papias testifies that this word does some∣times signifie a God. And indeed, since that Ab-addir is as much as to say Pater magnificas, Therefore,
AB-ADDIRES is the Name of certain Gods. St. Austin, writing to Maximas of Me∣daura, says, that the Carthaginians had some Gods call'd Ab-addires, whose Priests were na∣med' E••ccaddires: In Sacerdotibus E••ccaddires, & in Numinibus Ab-addires. Thus the Gods Ab-addires of the Carthaginians, were without doubt those whom the Greeks and Latins sometimes called, Magnos, petentes, selectos Deos.