An incised bone fossil contains groups of notches in three definite columns. Odd and unbalanced, it does not appear decorative. Many have conjectured on the meaning of these groups. Our word calculate comes from the Latin calculus , pebble. There is a plausible connection between the Latin tres , three, and trans , beyond.
Some primitive languages have words for every color but have no word for color.
Others have all the number words but no word for number. The same is true for other words. Yet the words collection and aggregate are of foreign extraction. Tallying Tally sticks have been used since the beginning of counting. The acceptance of tally sticks as promissory notes or bills of exchange reached all levels of development in the British Exchequer tallies.