absolute
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈæb.sə.luːt/
ipa: /æb.səˈluːt/
ipa: /ˈæp-/
ipa: /ˈæb.sə.ljuːt/
ipa: /ˈap.sə.lʉwt/
ipa: /ˈab-/
ipa: /ˈæb.səˌlut/
ipa: /ˌæb.səˈlut/
ipa: /ˈabsə(ˌ)l(j)uːt/
ipa: /absəˈl(j)uːt/
ipa: /absəˈlɪʊ̯t/
note: Indic
ipa: /əbzəˈl(j)uʈ/
note: Indic
ipa: /ˈabzəl(j)uʈ/
Forms: form: absolutes
form: abs.
form: absolut
Etymology: First attested around 1380. From Middle English absolut, from Middle French absolut, from Latin absolūtus (“unconditional; unfettered; completed”), perfect passive participle of absolvō (“loosen, set free, complete”), from ab (“away”) + solvo (“to loose”). Influenced in part by Old French absolu. Compare absolve.
Senses: examples: text: moral absolutes
text: There is a well-known generalization that human rights come before property rights. […] Unqualified absolutes like these do not contain the truth as tested by human experience. What we do say is that human rights and property rights are related to one another, are intertwined with one another, work with and play upon one another.
ref: 1944, United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, World Freedom of Press and Radio, Editorials Submitted...: Senate Concurrent Resolution 50, Senate Concurrent Resolution 52, Senate Concurrent Resolution 53, House Concurrent Resolution 97, page 30:
text: But if the psychoanalytic mood seems gloomy or pretentious, one may merely think of Anna as a person who comes to deal in absolutes: unconditional demands, total fears, extremities of power and subservience, […]
ref: 1987, Harold Bloom, Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, Chelsea House Pub:
text: Notice the use of unconditional absolutes in each of these statements. They are the words always, never, and forever. The illusion of absolutes is the ultimate pathological double bind. Yet the only absolute is that there are no absolutes.
ref: 2002, Jordan Zarren, MSW, DAHB; Jordan I. Zarren; Bruce N. Eimer, Brief Cognitive Hypnosis: Facilitating the Change of Dysfunctional Behavior, Springer Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 97:
text: This is important to understand, for when we see that the knowledge of good and evil is an absolute, we realize we can have absolutely no say in what it is or is not. Pause for a moment and consider that. Mathematicians work in absolutes.
ref: 2010, Joshua K. Hildebrandt, The Knowledge of Good and Evil: Who Decides What Is Morally Right and Wrong?, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 9:
text: The reason is that we are confronted here with a genuine moral dilemma, i.e. a clash of two moral absolutes – the unconditional right to protection of the fetus from the point of fertilization; and the unconditional protection of the right to choose of the pregnant woman.
ref: 2010, Klaus Brinkmann, Idealism Without Limits: Hegel and the Problem of Objectivity, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 265:
text: Often one is dealing not with absolutes (complete stability) but with relative differences in rate (see below).
ref: 2012, P. Katsoyannis, The Chemistry of Polypeptides: Essays in Honor of Dr. Leonidas Zervas, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 132:
text: When discussing these concepts, it is unreasonable to expect absolutes. Complete impact, complete compliance with Court decisions, and complete implementation are a myth even for the most admired Supreme Court decisions.
ref: 2016, I. Unah, The Supreme Court in American Politics, Springer, →ISBN, page 187:
glosses: That which exists (or has a certain property, nature, size, etc) independent of references to other standards or external conditions; that which is universally valid; that which is not relative, conditional, qualified or mitigated.
topics: geometry
mathematics
sciences
glosses: In a plane, the two imaginary circular points at infinity; in space of three dimensions, the imaginary circle at infinity.
examples: text: Withdrawn as a Buddha he sat, watching the alien world from his perch in the absolute.
ref: 1983, Lawrence Durrell, Sebastian (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 1039:
topics: human-sciences
philosophy
sciences
qualifier: usually preceded by "the"
glosses: A realm which exists without reference to anything else; that which can be imagined purely by itself; absolute ego.
topics: human-sciences
philosophy
sciences
qualifier: usually preceded by "the"
glosses: The whole of reality; the totality to which everything is reduced; the unity of spirit and nature; God.
examples: text: Complete concentration in a vacuum still at low temperature results in a concentrated flower oil, free from alcohol, the so-called absolute of enfleurage. The crude absolutes of enfleurage are usually of dark color and, because of their fat content, […]
ref: 1948, Ernest Guenther, The Essential Oils: History, origin in plants, production, analysis:
text: The main difference between these and those of indifferent quality is that the former contain flower absolutes in fairly large proportion and the latter either an insignificant quantity or […]
ref: 2019, William A. Poucher, Perfumes, Cosmetics and Soaps: The Production, Manufacture and Application of Perfumes: Volume 2, →ISBN, page 57:
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: A concentrated natural flower oil, used for perfumes; an alcoholic extract of a concrete.
Derived terms: dative absolute
decree absolute
degree absolute
locative absolute