abstract
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌæbˈstɹækt/
ipa: /əbˈstɹækt/
rhymes: -ækt
Forms: form: abstracts
form: abstracting
form: abstracted
form: abstracted
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: abstract
form: abstract
form: abstracted
form: abstract
form: abstractest
form: abstracted
form: abstractedst
form: abstracts
form: abstracteth
form: abstracted
form: abstract
form: abstracted
form: abstract
form: abstracted
form: abstract
form: -
form: abstracting
form: abstracted
Etymology: From Middle English abstract, borrowed from Latin abstractus, perfect passive participle of abstrahō (“draw away”), formed from abs- (“away”) + trahō (“to pull, draw”). The verbal sense is first attested in 1542.
Senses: examples: text: He was incapable of forming any opinion or resolution abstracted from his own prejudices.
ref: 1822, [Walter Scott], Peveril of the Peak. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC:
glosses: To separate; to disengage.
examples: text: The lightning of the public burdens, which at present abstract a large proportion of profits and wages.
ref: 1834, Harriet Martineau, Illustration of Political Economy, volume IX:
glosses: To separate; to disengage.
To remove; to take away; withdraw.
examples: text: Von Rosen had quietly abstracted the bearing-reins from the harness.
ref: 1872, William Black, The Strange Adventures of a Phaeton:
text: The inlaid characters in diamond, and other precious stones, have been all abstracted away by the pelf-loving Jaut and Mahratta—leaving the walls defaced with the hollow marks of the chisel.
ref: 1869, Bholanauth Chunder, The Travels of a Hindoo to Various Parts of Bengal and Upper India:
text: Section 13 of the 1968 Act enacts a separate offence of dishonestly abstracting electricity. The separate offence is needed because electricity, like other forms of energy such as heat, is not property.
ref: 2014, A P Simester, J R Spencer, G R Sullivan, Simester and Sullivan's Criminal Law: Theory and Doctrine:
glosses: To separate; to disengage.
To steal; to take away; to remove without permission.
examples: text: Poison from roses who could e'er abstract?
ref: 1601, John Marston, Antonio's Revenge, act II, scene I:
glosses: To separate; to disengage.
To extract by means of distillation.
examples: text: The young stranger had been abstracted and silent.
ref: June 1869, William Blackwood, Late for the Train (published in Blackwood's Magazine)
text: He was wholly abstracted by other objects.
glosses: To separate; to disengage.
To draw off (interest or attention).
glosses: To separate; to disengage.
To withdraw oneself; to retire.
examples: text: To abstract the notions of time, of space, and of matter.
ref: 1781, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume II:
glosses: To separate; to disengage.
To consider abstractly; to contemplate separately or by itself; to consider theoretically; to look at as a general quality.
glosses: To separate; to disengage.
To consider abstractly; to contemplate separately or by itself; to consider theoretically; to look at as a general quality.
To conceptualize an ideal subgroup by means of the generalization of an attribute, as follows: by apprehending an attribute inherent to one individual, then separating that attribute and contemplating it by itself, then conceiving of that attribute as a general quality, then despecifying that conceived quality with respect to several or many individuals, and by then ideating a group composed of those individuals perceived to possess said quality.
examples: text: I own myself able to abstract in one sense.
ref: 1710, George Berkeley, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge:
glosses: To separate; to disengage.
To consider abstractly; to contemplate separately or by itself; to consider theoretically; to look at as a general quality.
To perform the process of abstraction.
glosses: To separate; to disengage.
To consider abstractly; to contemplate separately or by itself; to consider theoretically; to look at as a general quality.
To create abstractions.
qualifier: fine arts
examples: He abstracted out the square root function.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: To separate; to disengage.
To consider abstractly; to contemplate separately or by itself; to consider theoretically; to look at as a general quality.
To produce an abstraction, usually by refactoring existing code. Generally used with "out".
glosses: To summarize; to abridge; to epitomize.
Synonyms: sense: to remove, separate, take away, or withdraw
word: remove
sense: to remove, separate, take away, or withdraw
word: separate
sense: to remove, separate, take away, or withdraw
word: take away
sense: to remove, separate, take away, or withdraw
word: withdraw
sense: to abridge, epitomize, or summarize
word: abridge
sense: to abridge, epitomize, or summarize
word: epitomize
sense: to abridge, epitomize, or summarize
word: summarize
sense: to filch, purloin, or steal
word: filch
sense: to filch, purloin, or steal
word: purloin
sense: to filch, purloin, or steal
word: steal
Derived terms: abstractable
abstract away from
abstracted
abstracter
abstractor
Related terms: abstraction
abstractive
abstractum