abstraction

American  

[ab-strak-shuhn] / æbˈstræk ʃən /

noun

1. an abstract or general idea or term.

2. the act of considering something as a general quality or characteristic, apart from concrete realities, specific objects, or actual instances.

3. an impractical idea; something visionary and unrealistic.

4. the act of taking away or separating; withdrawal.

   The sensation of cold is due to the abstraction of heat from our bodies.

5. secret removal, especially theft.

6. absent-mindedness; inattention; mental absorption.

7. Fine Arts.

   1. the abstract qualities or characteristics of a work of art.

   2. a work of art, especially a nonrepresentational one, stressing formal relationships.

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abstraction British  

/ æbˈstrækʃən /

noun

1. absence of mind; preoccupation

2. the process of formulating generalized ideas or concepts by extracting common qualities from specific examples

3. an idea or concept formulated in this way

   good and evil are abstractions

4. logic an operator that forms a class name or predicate from any given expression See also lambda calculus

5. an abstract painting, sculpture, etc

6. the act of withdrawing or removing

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Other Word Forms

• abstractional adjective
• abstractive adjective
• abstractively adverb

Etymology

Origin of abstraction

First recorded in 1540–50; from Late Latin abstractiōn-, stem of abstractiō “separation,” literally, “a drawing off,” from abstract(us) “drawn off” + -iō noun suffix; abstract -ion

Explanation

An abstraction is something nonspecific, a concept that isn't concrete. It can also refer to the state of mind in which a person is not paying attention to something but is lost in thought or daydreaming. Abstraction is the noun from the adjective abstract, which derives from the Latin abstrahere "to divert." From that, we can get the idea that an abstraction is something that is drawn away from concrete reality. In the art world, an abstraction is a painting or musical piece created in the style of expressionism, in which a subject is not realistically presented or even recognized, but rather is suggested by an emotional flow of paint or music.

Example Sentences

There are Supreme Court cases that arrive draped in abstraction.

From Slate • Apr. 10, 2026

A Defra spokesperson said £2bn of water company investment had been secured over five years to restore chalk streams as well as upgrading the abstraction licensing system.

From BBC • Mar. 8, 2026

Screwball humor often runs through the pieces; they indulge in abstraction and never skew didactic.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 2, 2026

He knows that democracy is not an abstraction.

From Salon • Mar. 2, 2026

The word was created to mark a function; it was an abstraction.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee