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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary ab·stract
ETYMOLOGY Medieval Latin abstractus, from Latin, past participle of abstrahere to drag away, from abs-, ab- + trahere to pull, draw DATE 14th century 1. a. disassociated from any specific instance an abstract entity b. difficult to understand : abstruse abstract problems c. insufficiently factual : formal possessed only an abstract right 2. expressing a quality apart from an object the word poem is concrete, poetry is abstract 3. a. dealing with a subject in its abstract aspects : theoretical abstract science b. impersonal , detached the abstract compassion of a surgeon — Time 4. having only intrinsic form with little or no attempt at pictorial representation or narrative content abstract painting
ETYMOLOGY Middle English, from Latin abstractus DATE 15th century 1. a summary of points (as of a writing) usually presented in skeletal form; also : something that summarizes or concentrates the essentials of a larger thing or several things 2. an abstract thing or state 3. abstraction 4a
DATE 1542 transitive verb 1. remove , separate 2. to consider apart from application to or association with a particular instance 3. to make an abstract of : summarize 4. to draw away the attention of 5. steal , purloin intransitive verb : to make an abstraction English Etymology abstract abstract (adj.) late 14c., from L. abstractus "drawn away," pp. of abstrahere,from ab(s)- "away" + trahere "draw" (see tract (1)). Meaning "withdrawn or separated from material objects or practical matters" is from 1550s; specifically in ref. to the fine arts, it dates from 1915; abstract expressionism from 1952. The general noun sense of "a smaller quantity containing the virtue or power of a greater" [Johnson] is recorded from 1560s; meaning "summary of a document" is from 1520s. The verb is first recorded 1540s. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 abstract ab·stract adjective/ 5AbstrAkt / 1. based on general ideas and not on any particular real person, thing or situation 抽象的(与个别情况相对)；纯理论的: abstract knowledge / principles 理论知识；抽象原理 The research shows that preschool children are capable of thinking in abstract terms. 研究表明,学龄前儿童具有抽象思维的能力。 ⇨ compare concrete adj. (2)2. existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical reality 抽象的(与具体经验相对): We may talk of beautiful things but beauty itself is abstract. 我们尽可谈论美的事物,但美本身却是抽象的。 3. (of art 艺术) not representing people or things in a realistic way, but expressing the artist's ideas about them 抽象(派)的 ⇨ compare figurative (2), representational • ab·stract·ly adv.noun/ 5AbstrAkt / 1. an abstract work of art 抽象派艺术作品 2. a short piece of writing containing the main ideas in a document (文献等的)摘要,概要 SYN summary
IDIOMS ▪ in the 'abstract in a general way, without referring to a particular real person, thing or situation 抽象地；理论上verb/ Ab5strAkt / ▪ [VN] 1. ~ sth (from sth) to remove sth from somewhere 把…抽象出；提取；抽取；分离: She abstracted the main points from the argument. 她把论据概括成要点。 a plan to abstract 8 million gallons of water from the river 从这条河中抽取 800 万加仑水的计划 2. (technical 术语) to make a written summary of a book, etc. 写出(书等的)摘要 Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English abstract adj. VERBS be ADV. highly, very | entirely, purely purely abstract drawing | increasingly | fairly, rather, somewhat OLT abstract noun ⇨ summary abstract adj. ⇨ intellectual 1 Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged Search result show the entry is found in: in the abstract , or abstract from , or abstract expressionism , or abstract music , or abstract of title , or abstract plant , or abstract universal ab·stract I. \(ˈ)abz|trakt, əbzˈ-, -ab|st-, əbˈst-\ adjective (sometimes -er/-est) Etymology: Middle English, from Latin abstractus, past participle of abstrahere to draw away, withdraw, from abs- (variant of ab- ab- (I)) + trahere to pull, draw — more at trace 1. archaic : absent in mind : abstracted 3 < abstract, as in a trance — John Milton > 2. [Medieval Latin abstractus, from Latin, past participle] a. : considered apart from any application to a particular object or specific instance : separated from embodiment < an abstract entity > < arguments from abstract probability — P.E.More > b. : difficult to understand : abstruse < more abstract problems involving judgment and ability to reason — Saturday Review > c. : ideal < to shed tears over abstract justice and generosity … and never to know these qualities when you meet them in the street — William James > d. : insufficiently factual : formal < she possessed all civil rights — but these were abstract and empty — H.M.Parshley > < abstract and doctrinaire instruction > e. of a unit or number : having no reference to a thing or things — opposed to concrete 3. archaic : drawn away : removed , separate 4. : expressing a property, quality, attribute, or relation viewed apart from the other characteristics inhering in or constituting an object < honesty, whiteness, triangularity are abstract words > 5. : dealing or tending to deal with a subject in the abstract: as a. of a science : pure , theoretical — contrasted with applied b. : impersonal , detached < I should have remained mainly academic and abstract but for the war — Bertrand Russell > < the abstract compassion of a surgeon — Time > 6. a. of a fine art : presenting or possessing schematic or generalized form frequently suggested by and having obscure resemblance to natural appearances through a contrived ordering of pictorial or sculptural elements — contrasted with academic; compare nonobjective b. music : absolute 11a c. of dance composition : lacking concrete program or story 7. : signifying a logical predicate or a class especially of higher order (as number when conceived of as a class property) II. \“ in sense 2; in other senses usually ˈ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷\ noun (-s) Etymology: Middle English, from Latin abstractus, past participle 1. : a summary or an epitome (as of a book, a scientific article, or a legal document) 2. : an abstract term or idea : the result of abstraction 3. : something that comprises or concentrates in itself the essential qualities of a larger thing or of several things < a man who is the abstract of all faults that all men follow — Shakespeare > < trial by jury … the very abstract and essence of … democratic government — W.H.Mallock > 4. : abstract of title 5. pharmacy : a preparation made by mixing a powdered solid extract of a vegetable substance with sugar of milk in such proportion that one part of the final product represents two parts of the original drug from which the extract was made 6. fine art : abstraction 6Synonyms: see abridgment • - in the abstract III. \in vt senses 3 & 6 usually ˈ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷; in other senses usually like adj\verb (-ed/-ing/-s) Etymology: abstract (I) transitive verb 1. : to draw away : take away : remove , separate < add or abstract baser metal in minting > < a vast cigar-shaped body of gas was raised and eventually abstracted from the surface of the sun — W.E.Swinton > 2. : to separate (as an idea) by the operation of the mind : consider (as a quality or attribute) apart from any application to a particular object or instance < abstract the notion of dimension from that of space > 3. : to make an abstract of : epitomize , summarize 4. : to draw away the interest or attention of : divert < his imagination had so abstracted him that his name was called twice before he answered — James Joyce > 5. : to take secretly or dishonestly : steal , purloin < Shaftesbury's son seems to have abstracted important documents for Cavour — Times Literary Supplement > 6. in life insurance : to summarize (an insurance contract) especially in the effort to induce a policyholder to cancel a policy and substitute another 7. fine art : to create abstractions suggested by (a concrete or natural object) intransitive verb 1. : to perform the process of abstraction or of abstracting something < we naturally abstract when two similar objects are presented to us — Frank Thilly > 2. fine art : to create abstractions Synonyms: see detach • - abstract from |
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