ABRASAX, or ABRAKAS, the supreme god of the Basilidian heretics. It is a mystical or cabalistic word, composed of the Greek letters, α, β, ρ, α, ξ, α, σ, which, together, according to the Grecian mode of numeration, make up the number 365. For Basilides taught, that there were 365 heavens between the earth and the empyrean; each of which heavens had its angel or intelligence, which created it; each of which angels likewise was created by the angel next above it; thus ascending by a scale to the Supreme Being, or first Creator. The Basilidians used the word Abraxas by way of charm or amulet.
ABRASION is sometimes used among medical writers for the effect of sharp corrosive medicines or humours in wearing away the natural mucus which covers the membranes, and particularly those of the stomach and intestines. The word is composed of the Latin ab and rado, to share or scrape off.
ABRASION is also used to denote the wear and tear of Coins. The deficiency in the weight of the old worn coins, on their being called in to be recoined, falls upon the public. Mr McCulloch reckons, that if the currency of the United Kingdom consisted wholly of gold, it would amount to at least sixty millions of sovereigns, and that the loss sustained by
abrasion, including what results from shipwreck, fire, and other accidents, would amount to a hundredth part of the sum in circulation, or £600,000 annually.—McCulloch's Treatises and Essays on Economical Policy, p. 33.