abstract

English Online Dictionary. What means abstract‎? What does abstract mean?

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

• Noun:
  • IPA^(key): /ˈæbˌstɹækt/
• Adjective:
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈæbˌstɹækt/
  • (US) IPA^(key): /ˌæbˈstɹækt/, /əbˈstɹækt/, /ˈæbˌstɹækt/
• Verb:
  • IPA^(key): /ˌæbˈstɹækt/, /əbˈstɹækt/
• Rhymes: -ækt

Noun

abstract (plural abstracts)

1. An abridgement or summary of a longer publication. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
2. Something that concentrates in itself the qualities of a larger item, or multiple items. [First attested in the mid 16^th century.]
   1. Concentrated essence of a product.
   2. (medicine) A powdered solid extract of a medicinal substance mixed with lactose.
3. An abstraction; an abstract term; that which is abstract. [First attested in the mid 16^th century.]
4. The theoretical way of looking at things; something that exists only in idealized form. [First attested in the early 17^th century.]
5. (art) An abstract work of art. [First attested in the early 20^th century.]
6. (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)

1. (obsolete) Derived; extracted. [Attested from around 1350 to 1470 until the late 15^th century.]
2. (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.

3. Not concrete: conceptual, ideal. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]

   Synonyms: conceptual, ideal, imaginary, incorporeal, intangible, nonempirical, theoretical

   Antonyms: actual, concrete, corporeal, empirical

   1. Insufficiently factual.

      Synonym: formal

   2. Apart from practice or reality; vague; theoretical; impersonal; not applied.

      Synonyms: conceptual, theoretical

      Antonyms: applied, practical

   3. (grammar) As a noun, denoting a concept or intangible as opposed to an object, place, or person.
4. Difficult to understand; abstruse; hard to conceptualize. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]

   Synonym: abstruse

5. 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
6. 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
7. (archaic) Absent-minded. [First attested in the early 16^th century.]
8. (art) Pertaining to the formal aspect of art, such as the lines, colors, shapes, and the relationships among them. [First attested in the mid 19^th century.]
   1. (art, often capitalized) Free from representational qualities, in particular the non-representational styles of the 20^th century. [First attested in the mid 19^th century.]
   2. (music) Absolute.
   3. (dance) Lacking a story.
9. (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)

1. (transitive) To separate; to disengage. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
   1. (transitive) To remove; to take away; withdraw. [First attested in the late 15^th century.]
   2. (transitive, euphemistic) To steal; to take away; to remove without permission. [First attested in the late 15^th century.]
   3. (transitive, obsolete) To extract by means of distillation. [Attested from the early 17^th century until the early 18^th century.]
   4. (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.

   5. (intransitive, reflexive, literally, figuratively) To withdraw oneself; to retire. [First attested in the mid 17^th century.]
   6. (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 17^th century.]
      1. 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.
      2. (intransitive, rare) To perform the process of abstraction.
      3. (intransitive, fine arts) To create abstractions.
      4. (intransitive, computing) To produce an abstraction, usually by refactoring existing code. Generally used with "out".

         He abstracted out the square root function.

2. (transitive) To summarize; to abridge; to epitomize. [First attested in the late 16^th 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.
• “abstract”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →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)

1. abstract
2. (art) abstract

   Antonym: figuratief

Inflection

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)

1. Drawn away or out of; detached:
   1. Excerpted; quoted from another text.
   2. Out of one's mind or detached from reality; temporarily insane.
   3. Having been (pulled or moved) above the ground.
   4. Barely comprehensible; hard to read.
   5. (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 2018-05-24.

Noun

abstract

1. (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 2018-05-24.

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 and neuter plural abstracte)

1. abstract

   Antonym: concret

Declension

Related terms

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈəbstrak(t)/

Noun

abstract (plural abstracts)

1. abstract

Adjective

abstract (comparative mair abstract, superlative maist abstract)

1. abstract

Verb

abstract (third-person singular simple present abstracts, present participle abstractin, simple past abstractit, past participle abstractit)

1. abstract