Definition of: abstract

(ab·strakt′, ab′strakt) adjective
1. Considered apart from the concrete; general, as opposed to particular.
2. Theoretical: ideal, as opposed to practical.
3. Considered or expressed without reference to particular example, as numbers, attributes, or qualities: 8 is an abstract number: Redness and valor are abstract nouns.
4. Withdrawn from contemplation of present objects; abstracted.
5. Philos. Dissociated from closely applied perceptions or ideas: abstract truth.
6. In art, generalized or universal, as opposed to concrete, specific, or representational; tending away from the realistic or literal.
—noun (ab′·strakt)
1. A summary or epitome.
2. Law A compendium.
3. Logic An abstract idea or term.
4. Gram. An abstract noun. See under NOUN.
5. In pharmacy, the preparation of a drug in powder form. See synonyms under ABBREVIATION, ABRIDGMENT.
— in the abstract Apart from concrete relation or embodiment: in its general reference or meaning; abstractly.
—v.t. (ab·strakt′)
1. To take away; remove.
2. To take away secretly; purloin.
3. To withdraw or disengage (the attention, interest, etc.).
4. To consider apart from particular or material instances; form a general notion of: to abstract the idea of humanity from a crowd of men.
5. (ab′strakt) To make an abstract of, as a book or treatise; summarize: abridge. [<L abstractus, pp. of abstrahere < ab- away + trahere draw]
— ab·stract′er noun -ab·stract′ly adverb
— ab·stract′ness noun Synonyms (verb): detach, disengage, divide, draw, purloin, remove, separate, steal, withdraw. The central idea of withdrawing makes abstract in common speech a euphemism for purloin, steal. In mental processes, we separate some one element from all that does not necessarily belong to it, abstract it, and view it alone. The mind is abstracted when it is withdrawn from all other subjects and concentrated upon one. Antonyms: add, increase, insert, interpose, restore, unite.