abstract

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   dealing with a subject in the abstract without practical purpose or intention

   abstract reasoning

2. 2
   adj

   not representing or imitating external reality or the objects of nature

   a large abstract painting

3. 3
   noun

   a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance

   I loved you only in the abstract--not in person.

4. 4
   verb

   to consider apart from a particular case or instance

   Let's abstract away from this particular example.

5. 5
   verb

   to give a summary of the main points of

   I abstracted my scientific paper in a single paragraph.

6. 6
   verb

   to make off with belongings of others

   The uninvited guest abstracted with our television.

7. 7
   noun

   An abridgement or summary of a longer publication.

   An analysis and abstract of every treatise he had read.

8. 8
   noun

   Something that concentrates in itself the qualities of a larger item, or multiple items.

   Man, the abstract Of all perfection, which the workmanship Of Heaven hath modeled.

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.