Hear it pronouncedabstract
Definitions from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
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[ English
[ Etymology 1
From Old French abstract, or from Latin abstractus, past participle of abstrahere formed from away + to draw.
[ Pronunciation
[ Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
abstract (plural abstracts)
- An abridgement or summary.
- Watts — An abstract of every treatise he had read.
- Something that concentrates in itself the qualities of something else.
- Ford — Man, the abstract Of all perfection, which the workmanship Of Heaven hath modeled.
- An abstraction; an abstract term.
- (art) An abstract work of art.
- That which is abstract.
- John Stuart Mill — The concretes "father" and "son" have, or might have, the abstracts "paternity" and "filiety".
- (medicine) A powdered solid extract of a vegetable substance mixed with sugar of milk in such proportion that one part of the abstract represents two parts of the original substance.
[ Synonyms
- (statement summarizing the important points of a text): abridgment, compendium, epitome, synopsis
[ Derived terms
[ Translations
an abrigement or summary
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something that concentrates in itself the qualities of something else
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an abstraction
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an abstract work of art
that which is abstract
an extract of a vegetable substance
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[ Adjective
abstract (comparative more abstract, superlative most abstract)
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Positive |
Comparative |
Superlative |
- (obsolete) Extracted.
- Considered apart from any application to a particular object; removed from; apart from; separate; abstracted.
- 17th century: Noris, The Oxford Dictionary - The more abstract we are from the body ... the more fit we shall be to behold divine light.
- Absent in mind.
- Apart from practice or reality; not concrete; ideal; vague; theoretical; impersonal.
- Difficult to understand; abstruse.
- (art) Free from representational qualities.
- (logic) General (as opposed to particular).
- John Stuart Mill - A concrete name is a name which stands for a thing; an abstract name which stands for an attribute of a thing. A practice has grown up in more modern times, which, if not introduced by Locke, has gained currency from his example, of applying the expression "abstract name" to all names which are the result of abstraction and generalization, and consequently to all general names, instead of confining it to the names of attributes.
[ Synonyms
- (not applied or practical): conceptual, theoretical
- (insufficiently factual): formal
- (difficult to understand): abstruse
[ Antonyms
[ Derived terms
[ Translations
extracted
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separate
absent in mind
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apart from practice or reality; not concrete
difficult to understand
free from representational qualities
general as opposed to particular
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
[ Etymology 2
From Latin abstractum, past participle of abstrahere; also from the adjective.
[ Pronunciation
[ Verb
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Infinitive |
Third person singular |
Simple past |
Past participle |
Present participle |
to abstract (third-person singular simple present abstracts, present participle abstracting, simple past and past participle abstracted)
- (transitive) To separate; to remove; to take away.
- Walter Scott - He was incapable of forming any opinion or resolution abstracted from his own prejudices.
- (transitive) To withdraw.
- (transitive) (euphemistic) To steal; to take away; to remove without permission.
- W. Black - Von Rosen had quietly abstracted the bearing-reins from the harness.
- (transitive) (art) To create artistic abstractions of.
- (transitive) To summarize; to abridge; to epitomize.
- (transitive) To consider abstractly; to contemplate separately or by itself.
- (transitive) To draw off (interest or attention).
- He was wholly abstracted by other objects.
- William Blackwood, Blackwood's Magazine - The young stranger had been abstracted and silent.
- (transitive) (obsolete) To extract by means of distillation.
- (intransitive) To withdraw oneself; to retire.
- (intransitive) (rare) To perform the process of abstraction.
- Berkeley - I own myself able to abstract in one sense.
- (intransitive) (computing) To produce an abstraction, usually by refactoring existing code. Generally used with "out".
- He abstracted out thee square root function.
[ Synonyms
- (to remove, separate, take away, or withdraw): remove, separate, take away, withdraw
- (to abridge, epitomize, or summarize): abridge, epitomize, summarize
- (to filch, purloin, or steal): filch, purloin, steal