abstraction [ab-strak -shuh n]
Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for abstraction on Thesaurus.com an abstract or general idea or term. the act of considering something as a general quality or characteristic, apart from concrete realities, specific objects, or actual instances. an impractical idea; something visionary and unrealistic. the act of taking away or separating; withdrawal: The sensation of cold is due to the abstraction of heat from our bodies. secret removal, especially theft. absent-mindedness; inattention; mental absorption. Fine Arts the abstract qualities or characteristics of a work of art. a work of art, especially a nonrepresentational one, stressing formal relationships. Show More
Origin of abstraction 1540–50; <
Late Latin abstractiōn- (stem of
abstractiō ) separation. See
abstract ,
-ion Related forms ab·strac·tion·al , adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for abstraction remoteness ,
contemplation ,
reflection ,
reverie ,
thinking ,
absorption ,
aloofness ,
detachment ,
engrossment ,
musing ,
trance ,
consideration ,
cogitation ,
preoccupation ,
brooding ,
entrancement ,
pensiveness ,
pondering ,
reflecting Examples from the Web for abstraction Contemporary Examples of abstraction It frustrated her to hear other students discussing death as an abstraction , subject to simple moral rules.
It is this kind of abstraction that leads to more mythology, more heroic narratives, more undertones of patriotic martyrdom.
In the many portraits, Picasso oscillates between naturalism and abstraction in his portraits of Jacqueline.
Democrats have to stop allowing Republicans to define the election as an up or down vote on an abstraction called Obamacare.
Only someone already painfully unable to deal with abstraction would draw such a suicidal conclusion.
Historical Examples of abstraction When Lester returned, he saw her standing by his desk, lost in an abstraction of grief.
The latter was a curious example of what I have described as abstraction of color.
And the great aim of education is the cultivation of the habit of abstraction .
This abstraction is the far-off heaven on which the eye of the mind is fixed in fond amazement.
Another says, 'No, not fire in the abstract, but the abstraction of heat in the fire.'
British Dictionary definitions for abstraction absence of mind; preoccupation the process of formulating generalized ideas or concepts by extracting common qualities from specific examples an idea or concept formulated in this way good and evil are abstractions logic an operator that forms a class name or predicate from any given expression See also lambda calculus an abstract painting, sculpture, etc the act of withdrawing or removing Show More
Derived Forms abstractive , adjective abstractively , adverb Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for abstraction n. c.1400, "withdrawal from worldly affairs, asceticism," from Old French abstraction (14c.), from Latin abstractionem (nominative abstractio ), noun of action from past participle stem of abstrahere (see abstract (adj.)). Meaning "idea of something that has no actual existence" is from 1640s.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
abstraction [ăb-străk′ shən, əb-]
Distillation or separation of the volatile constituents of a substance. Exclusive mental concentration; absent-mindedness. A malocclusion in which the teeth or associated structures are lower than their normal occlusal plane. The selection of a certain aspect of a concept from the whole. Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
