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abstract

 - 8 dictionary results

ab·stract

   [adj. ab-strakt, ab-strakt; n. ab-strakt; v. ab-strakt for 10–13, ab-strakt for 14]
–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.
Use abstract in a Sentence
Origin:
1400–50; late ME: withdrawn from worldly interests < L abstractus drawn off (ptp. of abstrahere). See abs-, tract1

—Related forms
ab·stract·er, noun
ab·stract·ly, adverb
ab·stract·ness, noun
non·ab·stract, adjective, noun
non·ab·stract·ly, adverb
non·ab·stract·ness, noun
o·ver·ab·stract, verb (used with object), adjective
pre·ab·stract, adjective
su·per·ab·stract, adjective
su·per·ab·stract·ly, adverb
su·per·ab·stract·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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World English Dictionary
abstract
 
—adj
1.  having no reference to material objects or specific examples; not concrete
2.  not applied or practical; theoretical
3.  hard to understand; recondite; abstruse
4.  denoting art characterized by geometric, formalized, or otherwise nonrepresentational qualities
5.  defined in terms of its formal properties: an abstract machine
6.  philosophy (of an idea) functioning for some empiricists as the meaning of a general term: the word ``man'' does not name all men but the abstract idea of manhood
 
—n
7.  a condensed version of a piece of writing, speech, etc; summary
8.  an abstract term or idea
9.  an abstract painting, sculpture, etc
10.  in the abstract without reference to specific circumstances or practical experience
 
—vb
11.  to think of (a quality or concept) generally without reference to a specific example; regard theoretically
12.  to form (a general idea) by abstraction
13.  (also intr) to summarize or epitomize
14.  to remove or extract
15.  euphemistic to steal
 
[C14: (in the sense: extracted): from Latin abstractus drawn off, removed from (something specific), from abs-ab-1 + trahere to draw]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Word Origin & History

abstract
late 14c., 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 1550s; specifically in ref. to the fine arts, it dates from 1915; abstract expressionism from 1952. The general noun sense of "a smaller quantity containing the virtue or power of a greater" [Johnson] is recorded from 1560s; meaning "summary of a document" is from 1520s. The verb is first recorded 1540s.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

1ab·stract definition

Pronunciation: /ˈab-ˌstrakt/
Function: n
1 : a written summary of the key points especially of a scientific paper
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 product represents two parts of the original drug from which the extract was made

2ab·stract definition

Pronunciation: /ˈab-ˌstrakt, ab-ˈ/
Function: vt
: to make an abstract of
ab·strac·toror ab·stract·er Pronunciation: /-tər/
Function: n
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2007 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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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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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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Computing Dictionary

abstract definition

philosophy
A description of a concept that leaves out some information or details in order to simplify it in some useful way.
Abstraction is a powerful technique that is applied in many areas of computing and elsewhere. For example: abstract class, data abstraction, abstract interpretation, abstract syntax, Hardware Abstraction Layer.
(2009-12-09)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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