abstract
- thought of apart from concrete realities, specific objects, or actual instances: an abstract idea.
- expressing a quality or characteristic apart from any specific object or instance, as justice, poverty, and speed.
- theoretical; not applied or practical: abstract science.
- difficult to understand; abstruse: abstract speculations.
- Fine Arts.
- of or relating to the formal aspect of art, emphasizing lines, colors, generalized or geometrical forms, etc., especially with reference to their relationship to one another.
- (often initial capital letter)pertaining to the nonrepresentational art styles of the 20th century.
- a summary of a text, scientific article, document, speech, etc.; epitome.
- something that concentrates in itself the essential qualities of anything more extensive or more general, or of several things; essence.
- an idea or term considered apart from some material basis or object.
- an abstract work of art.
- to draw or take away; remove.
- to divert or draw away the attention of.
- to steal.
- to consider as a general quality or characteristic apart from specific objects or instances: to abstract the notions of time, space, and matter.
- to make an abstract of; summarize.
- abstract away from, to omit from consideration.
- in the abstract, without reference to a specific object or instance; in theory: beauty in the abstract.
Origin of abstract
Related Words for abstract
philosophical, unreal, hypothetical, abstruse, ideal, complex, deep, intellectual, compendium, condensation, outline, brief, summary, synopsis, conspectus, digest, abridgment, dissociate, disconnect, separateExamples from the Web for abstract
Contemporary Examples of abstract
These matters are not mere threats to abstract constitutional principles.
To listeners, Adnan is a real human while Jay remains an abstract figure.
Aelita Andre has just wrapped up another major show of her abstract paintings and given interviews on her latest inspirations.
She became an international sensation at the tender age of two—before she even started pre-school—for her abstract works of art.
Di Bello described the color-splashed works as “abstract expressionism” with “surrealist” methods.
Historical Examples of abstract
Let us waste no time in discussions about abstract law and right.
Stories from ThucydidesH. L. Havell
St. Anselm proved the existence of God by the most abstract arguments.
Initiation into PhilosophyEmile Faguet
Speculative or theoretic knowledge is divided into abstract and concrete.
Critical Miscellanies (Vol. 3 of 3)John Morley
Thus, physiology is an abstract science; but zoology is concrete.
Critical Miscellanies (Vol. 3 of 3)John Morley
This is not the fault of Columbus, albeit we only have an abstract of his journal.
abstract
- having no reference to material objects or specific examples; not concrete
- not applied or practical; theoretical
- hard to understand; recondite; abstruse
- denoting art characterized by geometric, formalized, or otherwise nonrepresentational qualities
- defined in terms of its formal propertiesan abstract machine
- philosophy (of an idea) functioning for some empiricists as the meaning of a general termthe word ``man'' does not name all men but the abstract idea of manhood
- a condensed version of a piece of writing, speech, etc; summary
- an abstract term or idea
- an abstract painting, sculpture, etc
- in the abstract without reference to specific circumstances or practical experience
- to think of (a quality or concept) generally without reference to a specific example; regard theoretically
- to form (a general idea) by abstraction
- (ˈæbstrækt) (also intr) to summarize or epitomize
- to remove or extract
- euphemistic to steal
Word Origin for abstract
Word Origin and History for abstract
late 14c., originally in grammar (of nouns), from Latin abstractus "drawn away," past participle of abstrahere "to drag away; detach divert," from ab(s)- "away" (see ab-) + trahere "draw" (see tract (n.1)).
Meaning "withdrawn or separated from material objects or practical matters" is from mid-15c. That of "difficult to understand, abstruse" is from c.1400. Specifically in reference to modern art, it dates from 1914; abstract expressionism as an American-based uninhibited approach to art exemplified by Jackson Pollack is from 1952, but the term itself had been used in the 1920s of Kandinsky and others.
Oswald Herzog, in an article on "Der Abstrakte Expressionismus" (Sturm, heft 50, 1919) gives us a statement which with equal felicity may be applied to the artistic attitude of the Dadaists. "Abstract Expressionism is perfect Expressionism," he writes. "It is pure creation. It casts spiritual processes into a corporeal mould. It does not borrow objects from the real world; it creates its own objects .... The abstract reveals the will of the artist; it becomes expression. ..." [William A. Drake, "The Life and Deeds of Dada," 1922]
"abridgement or summary of a document," mid-15c., from abstract (adj.). The general sense of "a smaller quantity containing the virtue or power of a greater" [Johnson] is recorded from 1560s.
1540s, from Latin abstractus or else from the adjective abstract. Related: Abstracted; abstracting, abstractedly.
abstract
(ăb-străkt′, ăb′străkt′)- Considered apart from concrete existence.
- Not applied or practical; theoretical.