Abstract

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Contents

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English

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Etymology

Latin abstractus, past participle of abstrahere, to draw from, to separate, from abs, away from + trahere, to draw; see trace

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Pronunciation

  • Adjective and noun: ăb'străkt", /ˈæbˌstrækt/, /"{b%str{kt/
  • Verb: ăb"străkt', /ˌæb.ˈstrækt/, /%{b"str{kt/
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Adjective

abstract

  1. (obsolete{{#if:|, {{{2}}}{{#if:|, {{{3}}}{{#if:|, {{{4}}}{{#if:|, {{{5}}}{{#if:|, {{{6}}}{{#if:|, {{{7}}}{{#if:|, {{{8}}}{{#if:|, {{{9}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}) Withdraw; separate.
    • 17th century: Noris, The Oxford Dictionary - The more abstract we are from the body ... the more fit we shall be to behold divine light.
  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) 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. - John Stuart Mill
  4. (logic) Resulting from the mental faculty of abstraction; general as opposed to particular; as, "reptile" is an abstract or general name. -John Locke
    • 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.
  5. Abstracted; absent in mind.
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Synonyms

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Antonyms

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Translations

not applied or practical (1)

insufficiently factual (2)

difficult to understand (3)

considered apart from concrete existence (4)

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Translations to be checked

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*[[French]]: [[jour]] {{m}}<tt> should become <tt>*{{ttbc|French}}: [[jour]] {{m}}

Abstract, Adjective

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Derived terms

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Transitive verb

abstract (Imperfect and past participle: Abstracted, Present participle Abstracting)

  1. To withdraw; to separate; to take away.
    • Walter Scott - He was incapable of forming any opinion or resolution abstracted from his own prejudices.
  2. To draw off in respect to interest or attention; as, his was wholly abstracted by other objects.
    • William Blackwood, Blackwood's Magazine - The young stranger had been abstracted and silent.
  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.
    • W. Black - Von Rosen had quietly abstracted the bearing-reins from the harness.
  6. (chemistry{{#if:|, {{{2}}}{{#if:|, {{{3}}}{{#if:|, {{{4}}}{{#if:|, {{{5}}}{{#if:|, {{{6}}}{{#if:|, {{{7}}}{{#if:|, {{{8}}}{{#if:|, {{{9}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}) 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.
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Synonyms

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Translations

to remove, separate, take away, or withdraw

to abridge, epitomize, or summarize

to filch, purloin, or steal

chemistry: to separate by distillation or other chemical processes

See extract
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Translations to be checked

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Abstract, Verb, extract from.

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Intransitive Verb

to abstract (third-person singular simple present abstracts, present participle abstracting, simple past abstracted, past participle abstracted)

  1. (rare{{#if:|, {{{2}}}{{#if:|, {{{3}}}{{#if:|, {{{4}}}{{#if:|, {{{5}}}{{#if:|, {{{6}}}{{#if:|, {{{7}}}{{#if:|, {{{8}}}{{#if:|, {{{9}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}) To perform the process of abstraction.
    • Berkeley - I own myself able to abstract in one sense.
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Translations

to perform the process of abstraction

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Noun

abstract

  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.
    • Watts - An abstract of every treatise he had read.
    • Ford - Man, the abstract Of all perfection, which the workmanship Of Heaven hath modeled.
  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.
  4. (medicine{{#if:|, {{{2}}}{{#if:|, {{{3}}}{{#if:|, {{{4}}}{{#if:|, {{{5}}}{{#if:|, {{{6}}}{{#if:|, {{{7}}}{{#if:|, {{{8}}}{{#if:|, {{{9}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}) 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.
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Synonyms

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Translations

statement summarizing the important points of a text

abstract term

See abstract term
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Translations to be checked

The translations below need to be checked and inserted into the appropriate table(s) above, removing any numbers. Bear in mind that there are separate pages for different capitalisations. If a translation table directs the user to another page, then move the translation to that page.

When initially tagging an entry with this template, be sure to enclose each language in a {{ttbc|...}} tag to subcategorize it properly. For example, the line

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Abstract, Noun, article summary.

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Derived terms

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References

  • Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (G & C. Merriam Co., 1913, edited by Noah Porter), ARTFL version at [1]fr:abstract

io:abstract id:abstract it:abstract hu:abstract nl:abstract pt:abstract fi:abstract sv:abstract uk:abstract zh:abstract

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