abstract

[adjective ab-strakt, ab-strakt; noun ab-strakt; verb ab-strakt for 10–13, ab-strakt for 14]

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adjective

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.

noun

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.

verb (used with object)

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.

Idioms

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

1400–50; late Middle English: withdrawn from worldly interests < Latin abstractus drawn off (past participle of abstrahere). See abs-, tract¹

Related formsab·stract·er, nounab·stract·ly, adverbab·stract·ness, nounnon·ab·stract, adjective, nounnon·ab·stract·ly, adverbnon·ab·stract·ness, nouno·ver·ab·stract, verb (used with object), adjectivepre·ab·stract, adjectivesu·per·ab·stract, adjectivesu·per·ab·stract·ly, adverbsu·per·ab·stract·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for abstractly

theoretically, abstractly, conceivably, hypothetically

Examples from the Web for abstractly

Contemporary Examples of abstractly

What do you think it is, abstractly, that makes this period so absorbing?
How I Write: Erik Larson Revisits ‘Isaac’s Storm’
Noah Charney
October 31, 2012

Historical Examples of abstractly

Abstractly it is no more important than the other odd thousand we work with.
The K-Factor
Harry Harrison (AKA Henry Maxwell Dempsey)
We must distinguish between the abstractly typical and the universal.
The Gate of Appreciation
Carleton Noyes
"Abstractly, I of course agree with you," he said haltingly.
Planet of the Damned
Harry Harrison
Put thus broadly and abstractly, the answer must be negative.
The Analysis of Mind
Bertrand Russell
Our hero did not believe in brandy, abstractly or concretely.
Little Bobtail
Oliver Optic

British Dictionary definitions for abstractly

abstract

adjective (ˈæbstrækt)

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

noun (ˈæbstrækt)

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

verb (æbˈstrækt) (tr)

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

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 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 abstractly

adv.

late 14c., "by itself, absolutely," from abstract (adj.) + -ly (2).

abstract

"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.

abstract

1540s, from Latin abstractus or else from the adjective abstract. Related: Abstracted; abstracting, abstractedly.

abstract

adj.

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]

abstractly in Medicine

abstract

[ăb-străkt′, ăb′străkt′]

adj.

Considered apart from concrete existence.

Not applied or practical; theoretical.