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abstract

 - 7 dictionary results

ab⋅stract

  [adj. ab-strakt, ab-strakt; n. ab-strakt; v. ab-strakt for 10–13, ab-strakt for 14]
Use abstract in a Sentence
–adjective
1. thought of apart from concrete realities, specific objects, or actual instances: an abstract idea.
2. expressing a quality or characteristic apart from any specific object or instance, as justice, poverty, and speed.
3. theoretical; not applied or practical: abstract science.
4. difficult to understand; abstruse: abstract speculations.
5. Fine Arts.
a. of or pertaining to the formal aspect of art, emphasizing lines, colors, generalized or geometrical forms, etc., esp. with reference to their relationship to one another.
b. (often initial capital letter) pertaining to the nonrepresentational art styles of the 20th century.
–noun
6. a summary of a text, scientific article, document, speech, etc.; epitome.
7. something that concentrates in itself the essential qualities of anything more extensive or more general, or of several things; essence.
8. an idea or term considered apart from some material basis or object.
9. an abstract work of art.
–verb (used with object)
10. to draw or take away; remove.
11. to divert or draw away the attention of.
12. to steal.
13. to consider as a general quality or characteristic apart from specific objects or instances: to abstract the notions of time, space, and matter.
14. to make an abstract of; summarize.
—Idioms
15. abstract away from, to omit from consideration.
16. in the abstract, without reference to a specific object or instance; in theory: beauty in the abstract.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME: withdrawn from worldly interests < L abstractus drawn off (ptp. of abstrahere). See abs-, tract 1

Related forms:
ab⋅stract⋅er, noun
ab⋅stract⋅ly, adverb
ab⋅stract⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To abstract
ab·stract   (āb-strākt', āb'strākt')   
adj.  

  1. Considered apart from concrete existence: an abstract concept.

  2. Not applied or practical; theoretical. See Synonyms at theoretical.

  3. Difficult to understand; abstruse: abstract philosophical problems.

  4. Thought of or stated without reference to a specific instance: abstract words like truth and justice.

  5. Impersonal, as in attitude or views.

  6. Having an intellectual and affective artistic content that depends solely on intrinsic form rather than on narrative content or pictorial representation: abstract painting and sculpture.

n.   (āb'strākt')

  1. A statement summarizing the important points of a text.

  2. Something abstract.

tr.v.   (āb-strākt') ab·stract·ed, ab·stract·ing, ab·stracts

  1. To take away; remove.

  2. To remove without permission; filch.

  3. To consider (a quality, for example) without reference to a particular example or object.

  4. (āb'strākt') To summarize; epitomize.

  5. To create artistic abstractions of (something else, such as a concrete object or another style): "The Bauhaus Functionalists were . . . busy unornamenting and abstracting modern architecture, painting and design" (John Barth).


[Middle English, from Latin abstractus, past participle of abstrahere, to draw away : abs-, ab-, away; see ab-1 + trahere, to draw.]
ab·stract'er n., ab·stract'ly adv., ab·stract'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

abstract 
1387, from L. abstractus "drawn away," pp. of abstrahere, from ab(s)- "away" + trahere "draw" (see tract (1)). Meaning "withdrawn or separated from material objects or practical matters" is from 1557; specifically in ref. to the arts, it dates from 1915; abstract expressionism from 1952. Meaning "summary of a document" is from 1528. The verb is first recorded 1542.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: ab·stract
Pronunciation: 'ab-"strakt
Function: noun
1 : a summary of a legal document
2 : ABSTRACT OF TITLE —ab·stract /ab-'strakt, 'ab-"strakt/ transitive verb
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 1ab·stract
Pronunciation: 'ab-"strakt
Function: noun
1 : a written summary of the key points especially of a scientificpaper
2 : a pharmaceutical preparation made by mixing a powdered solid extract of a vegetable substance with lactose in such proportions that one part of the final productrepresents two parts of the original drug from which the extract was made

Main Entry: 2ab·stract
Pronunciation: 'ab-"strakt, ab-'
Function: transitive verb
: to make an abstract of —ab·strac·tor or ab·stract·er /-t&r/ noun
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

abstract ab·stract (āb-strākt', āb'strākt')
adj.

  1. Considered apart from concrete existence.

  2. Not applied or practical; theoretical.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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