abstract

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English abstract, borrowed from Latin abstractus, perfect passive participle of abstrahō (“draw away”), formed from abs- (“away”) + trahō (“to pull, draw”). The verbal sense is first attested in 1542. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) (noun) IPA(key): /ˈæbˌstɹækt/ (adjective) IPA(key): /ˈæbˌstɹækt/ (verb) IPA(key): /ˌæbˈstɹækt/, /əbˈstɹækt/ (General American) (noun) IPA(key): /ˈæbˌstɹækt/ (adjective) IPA(key): /ˌæbˈstɹækt/, /əbˈstɹækt/, /ˈæbˌstɹækt/ (verb) IPA(key): /ˌæbˈstɹækt/, /əbˈstɹækt/ Rhymes: -ækt === Noun === abstract (plural abstracts) An abridgement or summary of a longer publication. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.] Something that concentrates in itself the qualities of a larger item, or multiple items. [First attested in the mid 16th century.] Concentrated essence of a product. (medicine) A powdered solid extract of a medicinal substance mixed with lactose. An abstraction; an abstract term; that which is abstract. [First attested in the mid 16th century.] The theoretical way of looking at things; something that exists only in idealized form. [First attested in the early 17th century.] (art) An abstract work of art. [First attested in the early 20th century.] (real estate) A summary title of the key points detailing a tract of land, for ownership; abstract of title. ==== Usage notes ==== (theoretical way of looking at things): Preceded, typically, by the. ==== Synonyms ==== (statement summarizing the important points of a text): abridgment, compendium, epitome, synopsis ==== Derived terms ==== abstract of title ==== Descendants ==== → Norwegian Bokmål: abstrakt ==== Translations ==== === Adjective === abstract (comparative more abstract or abstracter, superlative most abstract or abstractest) (obsolete) Derived; extracted. [Attested from around 1350 to 1470 until the late 15th century.] (now rare) Drawn away; removed from; apart from; separate. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.] 17th century, John Norris (philosopher), The Oxford Dictionary: The more abstract we are from the body ... the more fit we shall be to behold divine light. Not concrete: conceptual, ideal. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.] Synonyms: conceptual, ideal, imaginary, incorporeal, intangible, nonempirical, theoretical Antonyms: actual, concrete, corporeal, empirical Insufficiently factual. Synonym: formal Apart from practice or reality; vague; theoretical; impersonal; not applied. Synonyms: conceptual, theoretical Antonyms: applied, practical (grammar) As a noun, denoting a concept or intangible as opposed to an object, place, or person. Difficult to understand; abstruse; hard to conceptualize. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.] Synonym: abstruse Separately expressing a property or attribute of an object that is considered to be inherent to that object: attributive, ascriptive. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.] Synonyms: attributive, ascriptive Pertaining comprehensively to, or representing, a class or group of objects, as opposed to any specific object; considered apart from any application to a particular object: general, generic, nonspecific; representational. [First attested by Locke in 1689.] Synonyms: general, generalized, generic, nonspecific, representational Antonyms: discrete, specific, particular, precise (archaic) Absent-minded. [First attested in the early 16th century.] (art) Pertaining to the formal aspect of art, such as the lines, colors, shapes, and the relationships among them. [First attested in the mid 19th century.] (art, often capitalized) Free from representational qualities, in particular the non-representational styles of the 20th century. [First attested in the mid 19th century.] (music) Absolute. (dance) Lacking a story. (object-oriented programming, of a class) Being a partial basis for subclasses rather than a complete template for objects. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== reify === Verb === abstract (third-person singular simple present abstracts, present participle abstracting, simple past and past participle abstracted) (transitive) To separate; to disengage. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.] (transitive) To remove; to take away; withdraw. [First attested in the late 15th century.] (transitive, euphemistic) To steal; to take away; to remove without permission. [First attested in the late 15th century.] (transitive, obsolete) To extract by means of distillation. [Attested from the early 17th century until the early 18th century.] (transitive) To draw off (interest or attention). June 1869, William Blackwood, Late for the Train (published in Blackwood's Magazine) The young stranger had been abstracted and silent. He was wholly abstracted by other objects. (intransitive, reflexive, literally, figuratively) To withdraw oneself; to retire. [First attested in the mid 17th century.] (transitive) To consider abstractly; to contemplate separately or by itself; to consider theoretically; to look at as a general quality. [First attested in the early 17th century.] To conceptualize an ideal subgroup by means of the generalization of an attribute, as follows: by apprehending an attribute inherent to one individual, then separating that attribute and contemplating it by itself, then conceiving of that attribute as a general quality, then despecifying that conceived quality with respect to several or many individuals, and by then ideating a group composed of those individuals perceived to possess said quality. (intransitive, rare) To perform the process of abstraction. (intransitive, fine arts) To create abstractions. (intransitive, computing) To produce an abstraction, usually by refactoring existing code. Generally used with "out". He abstracted out the square root function. (transitive) To summarize; to abridge; to epitomize. [First attested in the late 16th century.] ==== Usage notes ==== (to separate or disengage): Followed by the word from. (to withdraw oneself): Followed by the word from. (to summarize): Pronounced predominantly as /ˈæbˌstrækt/. All other senses are pronounced as /əbˈstrækt/. ==== Conjugation ==== ==== 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 ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === “abstract”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. abstract in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “abstract”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. “abstract”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. == Dutch == === Etymology === Borrowed from Middle French abstract, from Latin abstractus; compare English abstract. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ɑpˈstrɑkt/ Hyphenation: ab‧stract Rhymes: -ɑkt === Adjective === abstract (comparative abstracter, superlative abstractst) abstract (art) abstract Antonym: figuratief ==== Declension ==== ==== Derived terms ==== abstractie ==== Descendants ==== Afrikaans: abstrak → Indonesian: abstrak == Middle English == === Alternative forms === abstracte === Etymology === From Latin abstractus, from abstrahō. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /abˈstrakt(ə)/ === Adjective === abstract (Late Middle English, rare) Drawn away or out of; detached: Excerpted; quoted from another text. Out of one's mind or detached from reality; temporarily insane. Having been (pulled or moved) above the ground. Barely comprehensible; hard to read. (grammar) Abstract (of a noun). ==== Related terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== English: abstract Scots: abstract ==== References ==== “abstract, ppl.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 24 May 2018. === Noun === abstract (Late Middle English, rare) abstract, synopsis ==== Descendants ==== English: abstract Norwegian Bokmål: abstrakt Scots: abstract ==== References ==== “abstract, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 24 May 2018. == Romanian == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin abstractus, German Abstrakt. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /abˈstrakt/, [apˈstrakt] === Adjective === abstract m or n (feminine singular abstractă, masculine plural abstracți, feminine/neuter plural abstracte) abstract Antonym: concret ==== Declension ==== ==== Related terms ==== == Scots == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈəbstrak(t)/ === Noun === abstract (plural abstracts) abstract === Adjective === abstract (comparative mair abstract, superlative maist abstract) abstract === Verb === abstract (third-person singular simple present abstracts, present participle abstractin, simple past and past participle abstractit) abstract