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Meaning of ABSTRACT

Pronunciation:  [adj]'abstrakt, [n]'ab`strakt, [v]ab'strakt

 
WordNet Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. [n]  a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance; "he loved her only in the abstract--not in person"
  2. [n]  a sketchy summary of the main points of an argument or theory
  3. [adj]  dealing with a subject in the abstract without practical purpose or intention; "abstract reasoning"; "abstract science"
  4. [adj]  existing only in the mind; separated from embodiment; "abstract words like `truth' and `justice'"
  5. [adj]  based on specialized theory; "a theoretical analysis"
  6. [adj]  not representing or imitating external reality or the objects of nature; "a large abstract painting"
  7. [v]  consider a concept without thinking of a specific example; consider abstractly or theoretically
  8. [v]  consider apart from a particular case or instance; "Let's abstract away from this particular example"
  9. [v]  give an abstract (of)
  10. [v]  make off with belongings of others
 

ABSTRACT is a 8 letter word that starts with A.

 

 Synonyms: abstraction, abstractionist, cabbage, conceptional, conceptual, filch, hook, ideal, ideational, lift, nobble, nonfigurative, nonobjective, notional, outline, pilfer, pinch, precis, purloin, snarf, sneak, swipe, synopsis, technical, theoretical
 
 Antonyms: concrete
 
 See Also: absolute, apercu, brief, concept, conception, consider, construct, deal, epitome, impalpable, intangible, look at, nonrepresentational, reckon, regard, resume, right, see, steal, sum up, summarise, summarize, summary, take, teacher, thing, view

 

 

Webster's 1913 Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. \Ab"stract`\ (#; 277), a. [L. abstractus, p. p. of
    abstrahere to draw from, separate; ab, abs + trahere to draw.
    See {Trace}.]
    1. Withdraw; separate. [Obs.]
             The more abstract . . . we are from the body.
                                                   --Norris.
    2. Considered apart from any application to a particular
       object; separated from matter; existing in the mind only;
       as, abstract truth, abstract numbers. Hence: ideal;
       abstruse; difficult.
    3. (Logic)
       (a) Expressing a particular property of an object viewed
           apart from the other properties which constitute it;
           -- opposed to {concrete}; as, honesty is an abstract
           word. --J. S. Mill.
       (b) Resulting from the mental faculty of abstraction;
           general as opposed to particular; as, ``reptile'' is
           an abstract or general name. --Locke.
                 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.                       --J. S. Mill.
    4. Abstracted; absent in mind. ``Abstract, as in a trance.''
       --Milton.
    {An abstract idea} (Metaph.), an idea separated from a
       complex object, or from other ideas which naturally
       accompany it; as the solidity of marble when contemplated
       apart from its color or figure.
    {Abstract terms}, those which express abstract ideas, as
       beauty, whiteness, roundness, without regarding any object
       in which they exist; or abstract terms are the names of
       orders, genera or species of things, in which there is a
       combination of similar qualities.
    {Abstract numbers} (Math.), numbers used without application
       to things, as 6, 8, 10; but when applied to any thing, as
       6 feet, 10 men, they become concrete.
    {Abstract} or {Pure mathematics}. See {Mathematics}.
    
  2. \Ab*stract"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Abstracted}; p. pr.
    & vb. n. {Abstracting}.] [See {Abstract}, a.]
    1. To withdraw; to separate; to take away.
             He was incapable of forming any opinion or
             resolution abstracted from his own prejudices. --Sir
                                                   W. Scott.
    2. To draw off in respect to interest or attention; as, his
       was wholly abstracted by other objects.
             The young stranger had been abstracted and silent.
                                                   --Blackw. Mag.
    3. To separate, as ideas, by the operation of the mind; to
       consider by itself; to contemplate separately, as a
       quality or attribute. --Whately.
    4. To epitomize; to abridge. --Franklin.
    5. To take secretly or dishonestly; to purloin; as, to
       abstract goods from a parcel, or money from a till.
             Von Rosen had quietly abstracted the bearing-reins
             from the harness.                     --W. Black.
    6. (Chem.) To separate, as the more volatile or soluble parts
       of a substance, by distillation or other chemical
       processes. In this sense extract is now more generally
       used.
    
  3. \Ab*stract"\, v. t.
    To perform the process of abstraction. [R.]
          I own myself able to abstract in one sense. --Berkeley.
    
  4. \Ab"stract`\, n. [See {Abstract}, a.]
    1. That which comprises or concentrates in itself the
       essential qualities of a larger thing or of several
       things. Specifically: A summary or an epitome, as of a
       treatise or book, or of a statement; a brief.
             An abstract of every treatise he had read. --Watts.
             Man, the abstract Of all perfection, which the
             workmanship Of Heaven hath modeled.   --Ford.
    2. A state of separation from other things; as, to consider a
       subject in the abstract, or apart from other associated
       things.
    3. An abstract term.
             The concretes ``father'' and ``son'' have, or might
             have, the abstracts ``paternity'' and ``filiety.''
                                                   --J. S. Mill.
    4. (Med.) 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.
    {Abstract of title} (Law), an epitome of the evidences of
       ownership.
    Syn: Abridgment; compendium; epitome; synopsis. See
         {Abridgment}.
    
 
Thesaurus Terms
 
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