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单词 abstract
释义

abstractadj.n.

(in sense A.)Brit. /ˈabstrakt/, U.S. /ˈæbˌstræk(t)/, /ˌæbˈstræk(t)/, /əbˈstræk(t)/ (in sense B.)Brit. /ˈabstrakt/, U.S. /ˈæbˌstræk(t)/
Forms: Middle English abstrakte, Middle English–1600s abstracte, Middle English– abstract.
Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymons: Latin abstractus, abstrahere.
Etymology: < classical Latin abstractus, past participle (in post-classical Latin used as adjective in senses ‘incorporeal’ (6th cent.), ‘secluded’ (16th cent. in a British source)) of abstrahere to draw (see abstract v.). With use as noun compare post-classical Latin abstractum summary (1501 in a British source). Compare Middle French, French †abstract , Middle French, French abstrait (of a word) expressing a quality rather than a concrete object (1372), isolated, secluded (early 15th cent. as abstrat ), separate from matter or the material (1477–81), distracted, (of science) theoretical (both 1674), abstruse (1680), and also Old Occitan abstrayt (c1350), Catalan abstret , abstracte (2nd half of the 15th cent.), Spanish abstracto (1490), Portuguese abstrato (c1560), Italian astratto (1304–8). With use as noun compare also abstractum n. and foreign-language forms cited at that entry.The evidence of metre and of pronouncing dictionaries suggests that the position of stress in adjectival use has varied from an early date, although at most periods stress on the first syllable appears to have been more common. The usual pronunciation of the adjective in U.S. English with stress on the second syllable appears to have become established during the second half of the 20th cent.
A. adj.
1.
a. Of a word: denoting an idea, quality, or state rather than a concrete object. Frequently in abstract noun. Opposed to concrete.
ΚΠ
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 9 Austyn seith þat a noun abstract tokeneþ onlich þe godhede, as nounes essencia bonytas, deitas.
1607 J. Cowell Interpreter sig. Bb 3/1 Englecerie (engleceria) is an old abstract word, signifying nothing else but to be an English man.
1653 Z. Coke Art of Logick ii. 192 Let it be considered whither it be a Noun Abstract or Concrete.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding iii. viii. 230 As to our Ideas of Substances, we have very few or no abstract Names at all.
1762 J. Buchanan Brit. Gram. Pref. p. xi They are called abstract Nouns; because they are abstracted or separated from material substances.
1843 J. S. Mill Syst. Logic I. i. ii. §4. 34 An abstract name is a name which stands for an attribute of a thing.
1871 J. Earle Philol. Eng. Tongue vii. 382 There is in some languages an abstract substantive which is formed upon cardinals, and it has a peculiar utility in expressing the more conventional quantities or round numbers.
1947 ‘G. Orwell’ Eng. People 39 Many necessary abstract words..are rejected by the working class because they sound public-schoolish.
1965 N. Chomsky Aspects Theory Syntax ii. 64 Boy is a Count Noun (as distinct from the Mass Noun butter and the Abstract Noun sincerity).
1999 D. Graham Aristotle's Two Syst. ii. 40 For him..λευκος ‘white’ is derived from λευκοτης ‘whiteness’..i.e. the adjective from the abstract noun.
b. Existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence; conceptual. Frequently opposed to concrete.In quot. 1678: incorporeal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > unsubstantiality or abstractness > [adjective] > abstract or relating to abstraction
mathematical1547
abstract1557
abstracted1605
inconcretea1626
nonsensible1838
unembodied1841
abstractional1842
discrete1851
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > [adjective] > performing abstraction > abstracted
abstract1734
1557 R. Record Whetstone of Witte sig. Aii Abstracte nombers are those, whiche have no denomination annexed vnto them.
1594 T. Blundeville Exercises i. xvi. f. 19 Vnderstand, that of numbers some are said to be abstract, and some concreate.
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. v. 806 These Demons or Angels, are not Pure, Abstract, Incorporeal Substances.
1734 E. Law Enq. Ideas Space ii. 81 The first and most distinguishing Property of an abstract Idea, that it neither has nor can have any ideatum or objective reality.
1774 Ld. Kames Sketches Hist. Man II. iii. ii. 269 Affection, preserved entire and undivided, is bestow'd upon an abstract object, as upon one that is single and visible.
1843 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Mar. 405/1 A belief in this abstract entity of mind.
1889 R. M. Wenley Socrates & Christ xi. 247 The moral greatness of Socrates, of Plato,..has rarely found equal in the Christian ages. Yet, in these last, the types of holy living have added something to moral greatness. The ideal has been brought down from an abstract heaven to earth.
1915 J. M. Baldwin Genetic Theory Reality ii. vii. 126 God would then be, like rational identity and moral law, an empty form, the postulate of value in an abstract realm.
1949 A. Pap Elem. Analyt. Philos. iv. 88 The use of non-individual variables commits the logician to the use of names of abstract entities, like properties, classes or propositions.
2003 A. Casullo A Priori Justif. vi. 152 This approach..offers no explanation of how the justification involved in beliefs about concrete objects differs from the justification involved in beliefs about abstract objects.
c. Considered or understood without reference to particular instances or concrete examples; representing the intrinsic, general properties of something in isolation from the peculiar properties of any specific instance or example; (esp. in early use) spec. constituting an ideal form or hypothetical perfect version.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > perfection > [adjective] > ideal
ideal1609
dreamlike1615
abstract1625
preterpluperfect1652
idealized1810
goldena1817
pluperfect1831
dream1884
fairy-tale-ish1884
dreamy1892
fairy tale1904
pluterperfect1908
fairy story1913
1625 T. Jackson Treat. Originall of Unbeliefe v. xlv. 405 This fervent imbracement arising not from a cleare intellectuall apprehension of their abstract truth.
1649 Bp. J. Hall Humble Motion to Parl. 15 God who is abstract wisdome, and delights that his rationall creatures should search after it.
1688 J. Norris Theory & Regulation Love i. iv. 43 And let not any one think it strange that I make this Abstract Love of sensitive Beauty an Intellectual Love.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding iii. iii. 193 To make abstract general Ideas, and set them up in the Mind, with Names annexed to them.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. ii. viii. 286 That the three Angles of a Triangle are equal to two right ones, is an abstract Truth.
1775 E. Burke Speech Resol. for Concil. Colonies 16 Abstract Liberty, like other mere abstractions, is not to be found. Liberty inheres in some sensible object.
1828 W. Sewell Oxf. Prize Ess. 10 [They] never placed the perfection of human excellence, as Lycurgus, in the abstract soldier.
1840 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece VII. lv. 110 It is not to be supposed, that..he was animated..by abstract philanthropy.
1909 Amer. Jrnl. Internat. Law 3 577 Sentiments of humanity and abstract justice counsel the affordance of shelter to an unfortunate person from lawless violence.
1953 A. Ehrenzweig Psycho-anal. Artistic Vision & Hearing xi. 168 I try to call up the mental image of a certain dog I have often seen in the neighbourhood and then the ‘abstract’ idea of a dog.
2005 P. A. Miller Lat. Verse Satire 117 Honos means both ‘honor’ and ‘office’, maintaining the parallel between abstract virtue and social hierarchy.
d. Not restricted to particular instances or concerned with the details of specific examples; dealing with or describing things at a general level, or in terms of concepts which denote general properties; theoretical.
ΚΠ
1721 J. Clarke Enq. Cause & Orig. Moral Evil 113 Because they [sc. animals] have not the Power of abstract Reasoning..we call it generally Spontaneity.
1766 Anal. Pneumatics & Moral Philos. 4 Abstract Science refers to the proceedings of reason on the mere suppositions of entity, quantity, or number; as in Metaphysics, Geometry, and Arithmetic.
1840 W. Whewell Philos. Inductive Sci. I. iii. iv. 170 These terms, cause and effect, must be understood in a general and abstract manner.
1868 M. Pattison Suggestions Acad. Organisation §5. 149 The tendency of abstract thought..to enervate the will is one of the real dangers of the highest education.
1870 J. Yeats Nat. Hist. Commerce 5 No amount of abstract reasoning would have led us to discover the properties and uses of iron.
1921 J. Dewey Democracy & Educ. (new ed.) xv. 236 Mathematics is now a highly abstract science; geometry, however, means literally earth-measuring.
1958 G. J. Warnock Eng. Philos. since 1900 169 A marked capacity for abstract thought is compatible with an ‘attitude to life’ entirely ordinary, or even dull.
2001 I. J. Deary Intelligence ii. 33 Inductive, abstract reasoning declines from young adulthood to old age.
e. Insufficiently factual or practical; dealing with ideas and generalities rather than events or specific outcomes.
ΚΠ
1784 European Mag. & London Rev. Mar. 229/2 It was not the business of either House to pass abstract resolutions. The tendency and intention of all their proceedings should be manifest.
1852 E. D. Mansfield Life & Services Gen. W. Scott ix. 130 (note) We deem it immaterial to the purpose of this history, who made an abstract suggestion of that charge, when it is so well known who were the efficient actors on that bloody field.
1873 W. Gladstone in Daily News Feb. 19 What I understand by an abstract resolution is a resolution which does not carry with it an operative principle likely to produce within a reasonable time particular consequences.
1919 Garden Mag. Jan. 176/2 Instead of a vague and abstract suggestion to the parents, the thing becomes a tangible possibility.
2000 P. Scherz Pract. Electronics for Inventors ii. 36 You may be scratching your head now and saying, ‘How do I really do the superimposing and such? This all seems too abstract or wishy-washy.’
2008 N.Y. Times Mag. 3 Feb. 46/2 They share a metabolic intolerance for the great French indoor sport of abstract speculation.
2. Difficult to understand; abstruse.In later use often with the implication of being excessively theoretical and lacking practical relevance, overlapping with senses A. 1d, A. 1e.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > depth, obscurity > [adjective]
higheOE
dighela1000
deepc1000
darkOE
starkOE
dusk?c1225
subtle1340
dimc1350
subtilea1393
covert1393
mystica1398
murka1400
cloudyc1400
hard?c1400
mistyc1400
unclearc1400
diffuse1430
abstractc1450
diffused?1456
exquisitec1460
obnubilous?a1475
obscure?a1475
covered1484
intricate?a1500
nice?a1500
perplexeda1500
difficilea1513
difficult1530
privy1532
smoky1533
secret1535
abstruse?1549
difficul1552
entangled1561
confounded1572
darksome1574
obnubilate1575
enigmatical1576
confuse1577
mysteriousa1586
Delphic1598
obfuscatea1600
enfumed1601
Delphicala1603
obstruse1604
abstracted1605
confused1611
questionable1611
inevident1614
recondite1619
cryptic1620
obfuscated1620
transcendent1624
Delphian1625
oraculous1625
enigmatic1628
recluse1629
abdite1635
undilucidated1635
clouded1641
benighted1647
oblite1650
researched1653
obnubilated1658
obscurative1664
tenebrose1677
hyperbyssal1691
condite1695
diffusive1709
profound1710
tenebricose1730
oracular1749
opaque1761
unenlightening1768
darkling1795
offuscating1798
unrecognizable1817
tough1820
abstrusive1848
obscurant1878
out-of-focus1891
unplumbable1895
inenubilable1903
non-transparent1939
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > obscurity > [adjective]
darkOE
murka1400
cloudyc1400
mistyc1400
unclearc1400
obturate?a1425
obscure?a1439
unplain?c1535
obumbilatec1540
abstruse?1549
darksome1574
mysteriousa1586
obstruse1604
muddy1611
unperspicuous1634
clouded1641
imperspicuous1654
cramp1674
unlucid1711
abstract1725
opaque1761
obumbratory1799
darkling1813
sludgy1901
c1450 (a1400) Orologium Sapientiæ in Anglia (1888) 10 313 (MED) Why is alle þis so hidde and abstracte, þat vnneþes is hit perceyued of any man?
1628 J. Doughty Disc. Divine Myst. 7 Yet especially are those mysteries of his will and decree most abstruse; for they be not only abstract in their owne nature, but also concealed by God of purpose.
1725 R. Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 173 I was extremely pleased with some of his reasonings; but in some places he was so abstract and out of my dull way of thinking, that I could not reach him.
1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature I. iv. 21 [He] will tremblingly..repose upon abstract speculations, and incomprehensible mysteries.
1828 J. McGregor Hist. Maritime Colonies Brit. Amer. II. 465 Let us leave abstract points of Christian doctrine to theological disputants.
1883 A. Grant Aristotle vii. 118 His [sc. Aristotle's] arguments to prove the above untenable position are curious abstract quibbles.
1929 Sci. Monthly Nov. 418/1 Scholasticism enforced the verbal memorization of dictations justifying abstract theological dogmas.
1999 R. Manheimer Map to End of Time vi. 139 If only someone would offer me a regular teaching job, I would gladly spend time with my students investigating the great ideas and grappling with abstract philosophical problems.
†3. Heraldry. Probably: designating the version of a coat of arms worn by those who are descended at two degrees removed from the main line of inheritance. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > [adjective] > originated or derived > from a person's predecessors or hereditary
hereditary?c1450
abstract1486
native1596
traductive1657
extraduce1720
1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. biv The .v. perfite [coats of arms] be theys Termynall Collaterall Abstrakte Fixall and Bastard.
4. Lacking awareness of or concentration on what is happening around one; distracted, preoccupied, faraway. Now largely superseded by abstracted adj. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > abstraction, absent-mindedness > [adjective]
in one's musesa1500
abstract1509
abstracteda1586
absent1631
thoughtful1656
vacant1680
lost in thought1681
withdrawn1713
dreamy1794
dun1797
preoccupied1801
absent-minded1824
pebble-beached1890
1509 A. Barclay Brant's Shyp of Folys (Pynson) f. lviiiv Theyr mynde, abstract nat knowynge what they say.
1832 J. Galt Stanley Buxton xxi. 92 His absent and abstract air appeared to interest her.
a1857 R. A. Vaughan Hours with Mystics (1860) I. vi. i. 153 Master Eckart ceased, and went on his way again..with his steady step and abstract air.
1916 D. H. Lawrence Twilight in Italy iii. 166 Paolo sat with the abstract look on his face, as of one who hears and does not hear.
1963 A. Hitchcock in T. L. Moral Hitchcock & Making of Marnie iii. 74 I think we should have an abstract expression on Marnie's face.
2005 Guardian (Nexis) 21 Sept. (Features section) 26 I found myself wearing the self-consciously abstract expression of an eight-year-old who finds himself accidentally aboard a toddler's fairground ride.
5. Separate, distinct; set apart from; withdrawn, secluded. Chiefly with from (also †fro). Cf. abstracted adj. 1a. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1534 J. Fewterer tr. U. Pinder Myrrour Christes Passion iv. v. f. xiiiv At all tymes and in all places Christe crucified is present with hym. And ferthermore that person is then in his mynde abstract and withdrawen from all thynges.
1588 A. Fraunce Lawiers Logike i. vi. f. 33 It is abstract from all, and not determinately bound to any.
1642 Question Answered (single sheet) The Law taken abstract from its originall reason and end, is made a shell without a kernell, a shadow without a substance, and a body without a soule.
1690 J. Norris Christian Blessedness 169 The more abstract therefore we are from the Body,..the more fit we shall be both to behold, and to indure the Rays of the Divine Light.
1726 Let. in R. Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 237 As to the other query about Mr. Simson, I believe you know I kept myself abstract in his former process.
1789 G. Parker Life's Painter vii. 55 He was ushered to a heath bed, which is to this day a common accommodation for repose in abstract parts of Scotland.
1832 Christian Messenger 16 June 263/1 Human nature, when viewed in theory as abstract from the grace of God, may be totally depraved.
1860 A. Phelps Still Hour viii. 40 Prayer, to be a filial intercourse with Him, must be abstract from sensation.
1998 N. E. Bowie & R. L. Simon Individual & Polit. Order (ed. 3) v. 110 To be distanced in that way is to be abstract from the situation.
6.
a. Fine Art. Designating art which is not founded on an attempt to represent external reality, but rather seeks to achieve an effect on the viewer purely by the use of shape, colour, and texture; of or relating to art of this kind. Also (of an artist, esp. a painter): producing art with these characteristics.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > period, movement, or school of art > late 19th and 20th centuries > [adjective] > non-objective or abstract
abstract1851
non-figurative1934
non-objective1936
non-objectivist1963
post-painterly1964
1851 Catal. Private Coll. Paintings & Orig. Drawings (Düsseldorf Gallery, N.Y.) 67 Abstract painting, which admits of no faithful imitation of nature, but whose forms and colors, though they have their basis in nature, are yet reduced or invented traditionally or conventionally, or by individual caprice or fancy.
1915 Forum (N.Y.) Dec. 670 Dore shows an uninteresting abstract canvas.
1929 C. Day Lewis Transitional Poem i. 16 The intellectual Quixotes of the age Prattling of abstract art.
1948 H. Read Art Now 134 We call ‘abstract’ all works of art which, though they may start from the artist's awareness of an object in the external world, proceed to make a self-consistent and independent aesthetic unity in no sense relying on an objective equivalence.
1948 R. O. Dunlop Understanding Pictures iv. 42 The pure abstract picture in which all representation of objects, all extraneous subject-matter, was finally eliminated and the canvas contained only shapes, spaces, colours.
1970 C. Barrett Op Art i. 7/1 The evolution of abstract art was a preliminary step towards the development of optical painting.
1989 Atlantic Aug. 74/2 I kept thinking of the abstract painters who were at work at the same time as Warhol.
2007 Independent 26 Feb. 42/2 Making abstract pictures under German occupation counted as sedition.
b. Designating music, dance, film, etc., which rejects representation of or reference to external reality, esp. in dispensing with narrative; (originally) spec. designating instrumental music which is not intended to be illustrative or representational in any way (cf. absolute music n. at absolute adj. and n. Compounds 2).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > the arts in general > [adjective] > qualities of works generally
wateryc1230
polite?a1500
meagre1539
over-laboured1579
bald1589
spiritless1592
light1597
meretricious1633
standing1661
effectual1662
airy1664
severe1665
correct1676
enervatea1704
free1728
classic1743
academic1752
academical1752
chaste1753
nerveless1763
epic1769
crude1786
effective1790
creative1791
soulless1794
mannered1796
manneristical1830
manneristic1837
subjective1840
inartisticala1849
abstract1857
inartistic1859
literary1900
period1905
atmospheric1908
dateless1908
atmosphered1920
non-naturalistic1925
self-indulgent1926
free-styled1933
soft-centred1935
freestyle1938
pseudish1938
decadent1942
post-human1944
kitschy1946
faux-naïf1958
spare1965
1857 Times 5 May 10/2 This is not abstract music;..but what Herr Wagner..would designate ‘programme music’.
1890 G. B. Shaw in Star 14 Mar. 2/4 The first sign of a reaction in favor of abstract or ‘absolute’ music against the great Wagnerian cult of tone poetry and music drama.
1958 Oxf. Mail 23 Aug. 6/5 The music is thin, the ballet abstract in form and inventive in choreography.
1967 S. Sontag in Partisan Rev. Spring 205 Not seduced by the solutions of a more realistic or less abstract fiction.
1991 New York 30 Sept. 68/3 An abstract dance that, offered on its own, would be satisfying if not especially inventive or moving, in this larger context has you fitfully wondering, But what does it mean?
2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 16 Oct. b4/5 Sensors attached to his joints produced an abstract film of his moving fingers on the backdrop.
B. n.
1. An abstract term or concept; an abstraction; (occasionally) spec. an abstract noun. Frequently opposed to concrete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > unsubstantiality or abstractness > [noun] > abstractness > abstraction
abstracta1398
abstraction1579
theory1592
abstractum1728
unding1932
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. i. ix. 48 Novnes ben iclepid mene þat haueþ þe manere and fourme and significacioun of abstractis but þe vse and offys and witnesse of concretis, as lumen, sapiencia and oþir swiche.
?1499 J. Skelton Bowge of Courte sig. Bivv A false abstracte cometh from a fals concrete.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 50 All suche substantives..especially if they be suche as the logicians call abstractes.
1574 J. Horsfall tr. N. Hemmingsen Preacher f. 38v For as Aristotle & Rodulphe do teache oute of the discription of Concretes, ye definitions of Abstracts are gathered.
1614 J. Selden Titles of Honor 117 To expresse them by Abstracts from the Concret of their qualitie..As Maiestie, Highnes, Grace.
a1638 J. Mede Apostasy Latter Times in Wks. (1672) 100 The Hebrewes use Abstracts for Concretes..as justitia pro justis: captivity for captives.
1717 S. Clarke Papers between Leibnitz & Clarke 305 Men are very apt to neglect That Necessary Distinction..which ought always to be made between Abstracts and Concretes.
1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued II. iii. 14 Our abstracts derive all originally from the concrete.
1839 C. W. H. Pauli Analecta Hebraica xxviii. 173 These nouns include abstracts and concretes.
1873 J. McCosh Laws Discursive Thought i. 31 These Abstract Notions, like all other notions, may be expressed in one word or in several. Thus ‘swiftness’ and ‘life’ are abstracts designated by one word.
1916 C. Hilton-Turvey Van Haavens xiv. 209 We believe in the fatherhood of God, but only as a fine abstract.
1994 R. Saberi tr. in Insights & Intuitions (2003) iv. 157 Our mind's tendency to generalize..has created abstracts like beauty, energy, justice, evil,... None of these abstracts represents an existent or an entity in the world.
2.
a. A summary or abridgement of a text or document.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > non-fiction > summary or epitome > [noun] > synoptical statement
abstract1436
titling1465
capitulation1523
aphorism1528
argument1535
table1560
analysis1588
the brief1601
abstractive1611
synopsis1611
method1614
synopsy1616
modela1626
scheme1652
syllabus1653
précis1760
summing up1795
aperçu1828
conspectus1839
vidimus1884
auto-abstract1892
standfirst1972
1436 in W. P. Baildon Black Bks. (Rec. Soc. Lincoln's Inn) (1897) I. 5 Item. j abstracte of the rollis of the said Will. Breton, by which there were dwe to the said felawshippe—xli. vijd.
?1457 J. Bokkyng in Paston Lett. (1904) III. 114 I sende you..the rolle of the copies of all patentes..and also a abstracte drawen as it come simply to my remembrance.
1528 S. Gardiner in N. Pocock Rec. Reformation (1870) I. i. 117 We send herein enclosed, abstracts of such letters as hath been sent to the pope's holiness.
1564 in Catal. Harl. MSS (1808) II. 360 Abstract of an Agreement made..for the annuall painting.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Richard III (1623) iv. iv. 28 Breefe abstract and record of tedious dayes.
1676 J. Collins Let. Sept. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1986) XIII. 83 Be pleased to impart that Abstract or a Coppy of it which you had from me..which shewes Mr Baker to be a learned Analyst.
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 456 I will give you here a short abstract of all that was said.
1799 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1834) I. 34 In the abstracts, it appears that the strength of the..forces consisted of 48,000 men.
1820 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 2 366 Abstract of the proceedings of the Lyceum of Natural History, New-York.
1863 H. Cox Inst. Eng. Govt. Pref. 8 Copies or abstracts of State papers and records.
1902 Process Photogram & Illustrator May 68 An abstract of this communication will add one more to the many obligations which British process workers owe to the research staff of the Vienna Imperial Institute of Graphic Arts.
1962 Lancet 19 May 1068/1 Have you ever tried doing abstracts? I once did—for about a year. It was the American articles that caused me the most anguish.
2000 Internat. Jrnl. Advertising 19 70 We ask for a disk version, author biographies and an abstract.
b. Law. A summary of the legal documents proving a person's ownership and right to dispose of a piece of property. Chiefly in abstract of title.
ΚΠ
1797 J. Holliday Life William Earl Mansfield iii. 471 A copy of the abstract of title to lay before lord Mansfield's counsel.
1799 Abridgm. Mod. Determinations Courts Law & Equity II. 302 The Master of the Rolls said that, had the purchaser made the objection when the abstract of title was first delivered to him..the purchase ought not to have been decreed.
1819 Jrnl. Senate U.S. (16th Congr., 1st Sess.) 692 An act to authorize the Governor of Illinois to obtain certain abstracts of land from certain public offices.
1858 Ld. St. Leonards Handy Bk. Prop. Law viii. 57 One great complaint at the present day, is the necessity of carrying back abstracts of title for sixty years.
1880 Harper's Mag. Oct. 718/2 The books containing what are technically called ‘abstracts’ of Chicago titles.
1939 H. Child Poor Player 9 Lawyering..had been mostly reading Blackstone and drawing abstracts of title in the sunny back room over the garden.
2001 Ledger (Lakeland, Florida) (Nexis) 20 Jan. 5 l Where we used to live every buyer gets an abstract of title which is required for a later sale or refinance.
3.
a. With of (also †from). A person or thing regarded as encapsulating in miniature, or representing the essence of, the characteristic qualities or features of something much larger; = epitome n. 2a. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > [noun] > reproducing on a smaller scale > that which is
abstract1561
brief1563
scantling1576
miniaturea1586
compendium1602
compendiment1605
modelet1605
baby figure1609
breviary1609
modulet1610
microcosm1611
epitomea1616
compend1642
breviate1695
reduction1728
mini1978
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. i. xiii. f. 40 So shall the godhed of the Sonne be an abstracte from the essence of God, or a deriuation of a parte oute of the whole.
1641 Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia sig. A2 On that side was disimboyned into her veynes by a confluence of blood, the very abstract of all the greatest houses in Christendome.
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) iv. viii. 362 He is an Abstract or Compendium of the greater World.
1712 J. White Restoration All Things xv. 145 (heading) An argument for this hypothesis drawn from the nature of man, as each individual is a compendium & abstract of the intire creation.
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Abstract, a smaller quantity containing the virtue or power of a greater.
1836 T. P. Thompson Exercises IV. 127 The Peers are not an abstract, or at all events not a fair abstract, of the upper classes.
1884 Atlantic Monthly Sept. 326/1 There is no mood of our lives that was not a mood of his [sc. Shakespeare's] mind... His intellect was the abstract of humanity.
1906 J. H. Dougherty Electoral Syst. U.S. xiii. 370 (note) The State is the abstract of all the people who compose it.
b. With of. A person who or thing which is a perfect embodiment of a particular quality or type; = epitome n. Additions. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > an individual case or instance > [noun] > typical or representative case > that which typically exhibits a quality
image?1534
abridgement1605
abstracta1616
proverb1659
incarnation1821
imprint1857
embodiment1868
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) i. iv. 9 You Shall finde there a man, who is th' abstracts of all faults, That all men follow. View more context for this quotation
1682 Great Advocate & Oratour for Women iii. 44 Who perchance (as most men are) beeing ready to follow the ill example of others may proove by little the very abstracte of impietie.
1754 S. Foote Knights i. 4 He is a thrifty, wary Man... The very Abstract of Penury!
1796 R. Jephson Conspiracy v. i. 73 The emperor, The abstract of Rome's state and majesty, Who chiefly stands responsive for her weal.
1819 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 456/2 The very abstract of worthlessness.
1953 G. Tabori Emperor's Clothes iii. 94 There are noses and noses,..but here was the very abstract of brutality; a nose that never smelled a rose.
4.
a. With the. That which is abstract, ideal, or theoretical, and considered without reference to concrete examples or particular instances. Frequently opposed to concrete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > unsubstantiality or abstractness > [noun] > abstractness > the abstract
abstract1573
1573 J. Bridges Supremacie Christian Princes 850 To speake preperly of the abstracte.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 45 They adde indeed a perfection, not to life, that is, to the concreate as we say, but to liuing, that is, to the abstract.
1659 N. Hardy First Epist. John: 2nd Pt. (ii. 15) xxi. 418 He repeats it with the change of the Abstract into the Concrete.
1723 S. Mather Vindic. Holy Bible v. vi. 341 And he, (i.e. Christ) gave [or put] wickedness, [i.e. sins] in his grave, and Riches [the abstract for the concrete] in his deaths.
1794 J. L. Buchanan Def. Scots Highlanders 285 We might point out that the abstract is taken for the concrete, and the concrete for the abstract.
1850 T. S. Baynes Ess. New Analytic 72 (note) [The reasoning] is comprehensive or intensive, for it proceeds from the concrete to the abstract, from a greater totality of attribute to a less.
1894 W. D. Howells Lit. Friends & Acquaintance (1900) i. xvi. 59 I was a helplessly concrete young person, and all forms of the abstract..afflicted me like physical discomforts.
1911 Atlantic Monthly Apr. 551/2 Criticism, thus, may not inexactly be described as the statement of the concrete in terms of the abstract.
1999 T. May Victorian Schoolroom 21/1 The view of some educationists..that children learn through their senses, and should be led from the concrete to the abstract.
b. in the abstract: in abstract terms; in a general way; without reference to specific details or particular instances.
ΚΠ
1592 A. Willet Synopsis Papismi 597 But in the abstract it is great blasphemie to say; that the Godhead of Christ died, was buried, or rose againe.
1628 T. Spencer Art of Logick xxviii. 141 Iustice in the abstract, is nothing.
1699 Royal Sufferer: Man. of Medit. & Devotions 50 Not only Vain, but Vanity it self, in the Abstract.
1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I. (at cited word) We say a Thing is considered Per se, when 'tis taken in the Abstract, and without Connexion with other things.
1792 W. Jones Diss. & Misc. Pieces I. xiv. 394 Polyandria, in the abstract, never occurs, and Polyandrion means a publick cemetery.
a1807 J. Opie Lect. on Painting (1809) 57 Learn to see Nature and beauty in the abstract, and rise to general and transcendental truth.
1819 W. Irving Sketch Bk. i. 49 She has no idea of poverty but in the abstract: she has only read of it in poetry.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. III. xciv. 318 The two great national parties..denounce monopolism in the abstract.
1937 A. Huxley Ends & Means xii. 199 In the abstract this scheme seems good enough; but in practice it just doesn't work.
1967 Brit. Jrnl. Psychiatry 113 318/1 It is customary..to cite the influence of changing social conditions—a concept easier to invoke in the abstract than to define in precise terms.
2005 Daily Tel. 17 Oct. 19/1 Forget the war, disregard the continuing occupation and instead ask, in the abstract, what kind of constitution Iraq ought to have.
5. An abstract work of art, esp. an abstract painting. See sense A. 6.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > period, movement, or school of art > late 19th and 20th centuries > [noun] > abstractionism > work
abstraction1921
abstract1949
1949 College Art Jrnl. 9 57 Certain ‘significant’ modern forms do not signify very much to me... Had I painted an ‘abstract’ of the thing I had in mind, it would not have expressed me.
1958 ‘N. Blake’ Penknife in my Heart ii. 30 The great mainsail curved up into the darkness, like a sculptured abstract.
1986 San Diego Business Jrnl. (Nexis) 15 Dec. 11 Digital photography by David Brunn and bit-mapped abstracts by contemporary painter Ed Roxburgh.
2003 F. B. Tipton Hist. Mod. Germany since 1815 272 Otto Dix painted an abstract War in 1914 using..crossing diagonals to break images into exploding fragments.

Compounds

abstract algebra n. Mathematics the algebra of any entities that are not real numbers (such as groups, rings, and fields).
ΚΠ
1860 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 4th Ser. 19 46 It is the essential principle of abstract algebra to furnish rules and symbols of operation which are proper for calculating independently of the knowledge of relative magnitudes.
1951 N. Jacobson Lect. Abstr. Algebra i. 15 The theory of groups is one of the oldest and richest branches of abstract algebra.
2006 Sci. Amer. (U.K. ed.) Aug. 20/1 A noncommutative space that contains all the abstract algebras..that describe the properties of elementary particles in the Standard Model.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

abstractv.

Brit. /əbˈstrakt/, U.S. /əbˈstræk(t)/, /ˈˌæbˈˌstræk(t)/
Forms: late Middle English abstracte, late Middle English abstracte (past participle), late Middle English–1500s abstract (past participle), late Middle English– abstract; Scottish pre-1700 abstrack, pre-1700 abstract, pre-1700 abstrak, pre-1700 obstract.
Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymons: Latin abstract-, abstrahere.
Etymology: < classical Latin abstract-, past participial stem of abstrahere to drag away, to appropriate, take away, to set free, to separate, to deduct, subtract, to exclude, to turn aside, divert, in post-classical Latin also to summarize (c1290, 1412 in British sources) < abs- (see ab- prefix) + trahere to draw (see tract n.3). Compare Middle French, French abstraire (past participle abstrait , †abstraict ) to leave out of consideration (1361–4), to take away, to exclude (1327), to abduct (1510–12), (in alchemy) to extract a substance by distillation (1594). Compare earlier abstract adj.The older Scots forms without final -t probably arise from analysis of the final dental in the past participle forms abstract , abstracte as -ed suffix1 and its subsequent removal to create an analogical present tense and infinitive form. With the form obstract compare ob- prefix.
1.
a. transitive. Chiefly Scottish in early use. To take away, extract, or remove (something); to move (a person or thing) away, withdraw. Frequently with from.In quot. 1647: to separate.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > removal or displacement > remove or displace [verb (transitive)] > remove or take away
ateec885
withbreidec890
animOE
overbearOE
to do awayOE
flitc1175
reavec1175
takec1175
to have away?a1300
to draw awayc1300
weve13..
to wend awaya1325
withdrawa1325
remuec1325
to carry away1363
to take away1372
waive1377
to long awaya1382
oftakec1390
to draw offa1398
to do froa1400
forflitc1420
amove?a1425
to carry out?a1425
surtrayc1440
surtretec1440
twistc1440
abstract1449
ostea1450
remove1459
ablatea1475
araisea1475
redd1479
dismove1480
diminish?1504
convey1530
alienate1534
retire1536
dimove1540
reversec1540
subtractc1540
submove1542
sublate1548
pare1549
to pull in1549
exempt1553
to shift off1567
retract?1570
renversec1586
aufer1587
to lay offa1593
rear1596
retrench1596
unhearse1596
exemea1600
remote1600
to set off1600
subduct1614
rob1627
extraneize1653
to bring off1656
to pull back1656
draft1742
extract1804
reef1901
the mind > possession > loss > taking away > take away [verb (transitive)] > withdraw
withdraw?c1225
surtrayc1440
surtretec1440
abstract1449
subtracta1538
substract1542
extracta1572
draw1600
J. Metham Amoryus & Cleopes (1916) l. 304 (MED) Ye nobyl deyfyid sygnys! abstracte From erthly mancionnis to the asuryd fyrmamente.
a1513 J. Irland Meroure of Wyssdome (1926) I. 53 God abstrakis his grace fra us.
a1525 J. Irland Of Penance & Confession in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1923) I. 12 Abstract him [fra] the occasioun of syn.
1542 A. Borde Compend. Regyment Helth xi. sig. F.iv Ye brande abstracted and abiected.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) xv. 100 Thou suld abstrak thy inuectiue reprocha.
1588 A. King tr. P. Canisius Cathechisme or Schort Instr. h vij Giff ȝe sowld abstract vair fra 30.
1601 C. Bagshaw Sparing Discov. Eng. Iesuits 20 They haue gotten (as they say) certayne faculties from the Pope to abstract from what Parsonages and Vicarages they list all spiritualtie.
1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. lv. 155 To abstract the mixed people each from other.
1704 Good Expedient for Innocence & Peace in Harl. Misc. (1746) VIII. 13/1 What more seasonable Charity, than to abstract the Foment from these accursed Divisions, by prohibiting those Oaths, that..perpetuate our Janglings?
1792 Med. Commentaries for 1791 Decade 2nd 6 178 It is not in the power of art immediately to abstract blood from the right side of the heart.
1834 H. Martineau Moral Many Fables ii. 42 The public burdens, which at present abstract a large proportion of profits and wages.
1872 W. Black Strange Adventures Phaeton vi. 72 Von Rosen had quietly abstracted the bearing-reins from the harness.
1880 A. Geikie Elem. Lessons Physical Geogr. (new ed.) ii. 10. 68 When evaporation takes place, heat is abstracted by the vapour from the surface which evaporates.
1934 T. W. M. Cameron Internal Parasites Domest. Animals i. 11 Filaria larvae, found in the blood of man at night, were actually abstracted from this closed circuit by a blood-sucking insect.
1979 T. Benn Arguments for Socialism iii. 84 If we look ahead to the mix of fuels which we think we shall need,..it is not possible to abstract the nuclear component without running a serious risk.
2001 Police Rev. 26 Oct. 13/4 More than 5,000 officers have been abstracted from uniformed duty to take part in special operations.
b. transitive. spec. originally Scottish. To remove unlawfully or dishonestly; to steal, purloin.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > taking surreptitiously > take surreptitiously [verb (transitive)]
forsteala940
stealc950
undernimc1175
to run away with?c1430
embezzle1469
steal?1473
surrept1548
cloyne1549
abstract1555
secrete1749
smuggle1768
to run off1821
snakea1861
sneak1883
snitch1904
palm1941
1555 Extracts Rec. in W. Chambers Charters Burgh Peebles (1872) 223 Euery landwart tovn..thairthrow abstractis the proffitis and change fra the said burgh to thair hevy dampnage and skaith.
1671 Corshill Baron-Court Bk. in Archæol. & Hist. Coll. Ayr & Wigton (1884) IV. 95 Ane boill malt abstract be himselfe.
1773 London Mag. Aug. 400/1 To abstract the revenues of it from the lawful proprietors.
1797 Morning Herald 10 Oct. Yesterday a free pardon arrived for David Urquhart lately condemned for abstracting letters from the Post-office at Kirkwall.
1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xxxviii. 347 He would abstract lozenges..from the surgery-drawers.
1873 Punch 29 Nov. 213/2 A case of reflex action sometimes comes perhaps before a Court of Justice. An impression made on the retina by a watch-chain is..transmitted to..the fingers' ends, causing them to grasp and tug the chain, and thus abstract a watch from a pocket.
1952 Times 2 Aug. 5/4 Do they never privily abstract a lump from the sugar basin and conceal it for secret crunching?
1982 A. Brookner Providence (1985) xi. 135 Four mugs abstracted from the students' canteen.
c. transitive. Chemistry. To separate or extract (a substance) by distillation; (in later use more widely) to extract, remove (a substance, atom, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > subject to chemical reactions or processes [verb (transitive)] > subject to named chemical reaction or process > obtain as a separate substance
abstract1651
insulate1830
isolate1836
1651 J. French tr. J. R. Glauber Descr. New Philos. Furnaces ii. 85 Put both the extracts together in a little glass body, and abstract the spirit of wine (in Balneo) from the Tincture.
1680 Scep. Chem. i. 78 A circulated Salt..abstracted from Compound Bodies.
?1685 R. Boyle Wks. (1772) I. 321 Having dephlegmed spirit of salt, and gently abstracted the whole spirit, there remaineth in the retort a styptical substance.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Scurvy From the fresh gather'd tops of Fir a little bruised, Abstract spirit of Wine or at least good Nants Brandy.
1885 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 526 For the manufacture of perfumes for the handkerchief the greases now known as pomades, butters, or philocomes are treated with rectified spirit of wine..which practically completely abstracts the odour.
1933 S. W. Cole Pract. Physiol. Chem. (ed. 9) ii. 54 Larger quantities of neutral salts, that are themselves hydrated in solution, can ‘salt out’ the colloid by abstracting the water.
1991 D. T. Sawyer Oxygen Chem. v. 128 An early study used radical-initiated auto-oxidation experiments..to demonstrate that HOO· abstracts hydrogen atoms from allylic hydrocarbons.
d. intransitive. To take away or detract from. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1806 J. Reid Treat. Consumption xi. 181 The youthful voluptuary rushes into courses which..eventually abstract from the ‘sum of pleasurable feeling’.
1825–45 T. Carlyle Life Schiller (ed. 2) ii. 97 There is throughout a certain air of stiffness and effort which abstracts from the theatrical illusion.
1865 E. Burritt Walk to Land's End viii. 288 Doubtless there will be room enough in it..for them to bask in without getting in the way, or abstracting from the happiness of their saved and sainted masters.
1948 Canada Law Rep. for 1947: Supreme Court 367 The payment of interest in advance necessarily abstracts from the sum.
2. transitive. Usually with from. To withdraw or disengage (a person or the mind) from an object, experience, or activity, usually so as to be distracted or absorbed by something else. Also occasionally intransitive.
ΚΠ
c1450 (?c1425) St. Mary of Oignies i. viii, in Anglia (1885) 8 141 (MED) He felid in þos dayes hir spirite as departid fro þe body..in this manere she was abstracte froo sensibil thinges and raveshyd abouen hirselfe in an excesse.
c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Knychthede (1993) i. 3 Abstrak his jnclinacioun..fra [etc.].
?1520 A. Barclay tr. Sallust Cron. Warre agaynst Iugurth xvii. f. 25v His mynde was abstract [L. abstractus est]..from the defence of goodnes & honesty vnto his olde vyce.
1560 in J. Spottiswood Hist. Church Scotl. (1677) iii. 164 The Rector..of the University must be exempted from all..burdens that may abstract them from attending the youth.
1582 Bible (Rheims) James i. 14 But euery one is tempted of his owne concupiscence abstracted and allured.
1663 A. Cowley Solitude in Wks. (1710) II. 696 The Importunities of Company or Business, which would abstract him from his Beloved [Poetry].
1693 R. Bentley Boyle Lect. vi. 33 They ought to abstract their Imagination from that false infinite Extension, and conceive one Particle of Matter.
1757 E. Burke Philos. Enq. Sublime & Beautiful iv. §4. 125 Campanella..could so abstract his attention from any sufferings of his body, that he was able to endure the rack itself without much pain.
1799 J. McHenry Let. 20 Sept. in Papers Alexander Hamilton (1976) XXIII. 446 His removal with her to Rhode Island has also abstracted him from the business of his command.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth I. xvi. 256 Some deep, overwhelming, yet secret feeling, hath of late dwelt in my lord's mind, hath abstracted him from the cares of the household.
1828 C. Lamb Poor Relations in Elia 2nd Ser. 153 The healing influence of studious pursuits was upon him, to soothe and to abstract.
1862 Illustr. Dublin Jrnl. 8 Feb. 356/2 It met the observation of the spectator, engrossed all his attention, and altogether abstracted it from the remainder of her person.
1900 M. Johnston By Order of Company iv. 36 When at length she succeeded in abstracting her attention from the clouds, it was to answer in the negative.
1985 G. Lyell Crocus List xiv. 101 George..found their shoes and socks, moving with numb efficiency that abstracted him from the terrors of his imagination.
3.
a. transitive. To extract (a passage of text) from a larger work; spec. to produce (a written account) by (in early use) editing and expanding passages extracted from earlier works, or (in later use) summarizing or abridging another text (cf. sense 3b). Chiefly in passive, usually with from, out of. Also occasionally intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > a written composition > extract > extract (from) [verb (transitive)]
deflowera1387
abstracta1475
excerptc1536
excerp1570
extract1607
gut1715
except1721
clip1872
a1475 (a1447) O. Bokenham Mappula Angliae in Englische Studien (1887) 10 33 Þes lytylle & shorte tretys, drawyn & abstract out of anoþur mannys longe & laboryous werke.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl.) (1865) I. 21 The names of the auctores been rehersede here, of whom thys presente cronicle is abstracte.
1578 J. Banister Hist. Man iv. f. 47 Thou hast to consider of the Muscles of the eyes, abstract sensibly from Galen, Uesalius, and the rest of Anathomistes, who all described the eyes of beastes, & not of men.
1596 R. S. Briefe Treat. Use Archerie (sub-title) Abstracted out of ancient and moderne writers.
1640 Bp. J. Hall Episcopacie iii. v. 245 These which I have abstracted from our judicious surveyer.
1698 V. Alsop Vindic. Faithful Rebuke 33 There be occasion for their Confutation in Thesi, as they stand abstracted from their Author.
1739 E. A. Laval Compend. Hist. Reformation III. i. v. 144 What I have said in this long but necessary Digression, concerning the Reformation of the Low Countries, is abstracted out of the Abridgement of Brandt's History.
1796 E. Darwin Zoonomia II. i. 109 The following is abstracted from a letter of my friend Mr. Power.
1879 J. Wrightson Farming in Cassell's Techn. Educator IV. 108/2 We conclude..by abstracting a sentence or two from Mr. H. N. Jenkins's report.
1953 E. Jones Sigmund Freud I. iv. 45 The following account..is abstracted from the introductory pages.
1989 S. M. Nadler Arnauld & Cartesian Philos. of Ideas 3 (note) This brief account is abstracted from St Thomas, Summa Theologiae, Part I.
b. transitive. To make a written summary or abridgement of; to summarize; to abridge. Cf. abstract n. 2a.In quot. 1629 in figurative context (cf. abstract n. 3).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > non-fiction > summary or epitome > make summary or epitome [verb (intransitive)]
suma1398
abstract1596
epitome1596
to wind upa1766
summarize1808
to sum up1899
1596 E. Coote Eng. Schoole-maister 74 Abstract see abbreuiat [Abbreuiat, shorten].
1629 F. Quarles Argalus & Parthenia i. 1 There dwelt that Virgin, that Arcadian glory, Whose rare composure did abstract the story Of true perfection.
1666 Abridgm.; or, Summary Laws against Jesuites 20 To be disabled to Sue..or Prosecute any Suit in Equity, &c. As in the next precedent Statute here abstracted and abridged.
1743 B. Franklin Proposal Promoting Useful Knowl. in Papers (1960) II. 382 That the Business and Duty of the Secretary be..to abstract, correct, and methodize such Papers &c. as require it.
a1794 E. Gibbon Memoirs in Misc. Wks. (1796) I. 58 This system I studied, and meditated, and abstracted.
1882 Pall Mall Gaz. 10 May 5/1 We cannot attempt to abstract the article here, but some salient points can be given.
1913 Electric Railway Jrnl. 15 Oct. 764/2 Mr. Wilcoxon then abstracted the report of the joint committee on train operation for interurban service.
1998 B. Harrington & B. Christensen Unbelievably Good Deals (ed. 2) viii. 180 The clearinghouse..catalogs, indexes, and abstracts the documents for inclusion in the ERIC database.
4.
a. transitive (reflexive) and intransitive. Usually with from. To keep away from or avoid something; to refrain from some action, task, etc.; (in later use) spec. to withdraw from social interaction; to avoid the company of others.In the later spec. use only reflexive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > abstaining or refraining from action > abstain or refrain from (action) [verb (transitive)] > avoid or shun
overboweOE
bibughOE
fleea1000
forbowa1000
ashun1000
befleec1000
beflyc1175
bischunc1200
withbuwe?c1225
waive1303
eschew1340
refuse1357
astartc1374
sparec1380
shuna1382
void1390
declinea1400
forbeara1400
shurna1400
avoidc1450
umbeschewc1485
shewe1502
evite1503
devoid1509
shrink1513
schew?a1534
devite1549
fly1552
abstract1560
evitate1588
estrange1613
cut1791
shy1802
skulk1835
side-slip1930
to walk away from1936
punt1969
1560 in A. Macdonald & J. Dennistoun Misc. Maitland Club (1843) III. ii. 217 We haif our lang abstractit ourselfis and beyne sweir in adjwning ws to Christes Congregatioun.
1595 in D. H. Fleming Reg. Christian Congregation St. Andrews (1890) II. 807 Sic as abstrackis thame selfis from the catichisme.
1667 R. Allestree Causes Decay Christian Piety v. 79 To these aids, a man may resort with these Proviso's, first, that he abstract from all design of Revenge; [etc.].
1671 R. McWard True Non-conformist 17 Desirous..that private men abstract from officious meddling.
1729 Bp. P. Browne Procedure Human Understanding (ed. 2) ii. iii. 199 We must at the same time abstract from All thought of heavenly and supernatural Beings, and can have neither Names nor Ideas for them.
1797 A. Radcliffe Italian I. ii. 79 He would sometimes abstract himself from the society for whole days together.
1876 Encycl. Brit. V. 142/2 The objective judgment of self-consciousness is bound up with or involved in the very faculty of judging, and therefore remains when we abstract from all other objective judgments.
1899 Harper's Mag. May 898/1 Captain von Ritter smiled distantly,..seeming to abstract himself from the noise and business of his surroundings.
1927 J. Park tr. A. A. Balmain Napoleon in Captivity 97 He has abstracted himself from all personal relation or intercourse with the authorities.
1986 P. Ramamurti Probl. Indian Polity vii. 342 By abstracting himself from social relationships, by isolating himself from human realities he becomes more and more eccentric and morbid.
b. intransitive. With from. To refrain from addressing or considering; to leave out of consideration, set aside. Originally and chiefly in abstracting from: setting aside; apart from. Cf. sense 4c. Now somewhat archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being exclusive > exclusiveness [preposition] > except or excepting
savec1330
out-takenc1384
saving1386
other thana1425
savea1500
reserving1541
salvo1601
to set aside1610
abstracting from1614
save fora1616
sans1659
exclude1720
aside from1818
saufc1844
out-taking1848
secludinga1851
1614 J. Gordon Treat. Unwritten Word of God: 2nd Pt. 1st Controv. iv. 20 Our Aduersaries can neuer proue this out of Scriptures only, abstracting from the authority of the Church.
1663 Marquis of Worcester Cent. Names & Scantlings Inventions Ded. ii. 16 Yet, abstracting from any Interest of my own, but as a Fellow-subject and Compatriot will I ever labour.
1667 R. Allestree Causes Decay Christian Piety v. 100 Take her as meer Paynim abstracting from the expectation of reward or punishment.
1679 R. Jenison Narr. Popish Plot 24 His Person (abstracting from his Crimes) having been always..dear to me.
1711 J. Anderson Countrey-man's Let. to Curat 95 Abstracting from..what was needful for humouring the thing, the Curat seldom speaks but in the words of the First-rate Divines.
1751 D. Hume Enq. Princ. Morals iii. ii. 58 When we abstract from this Circumstance (for 'tis too apparent ever to be overlooks) it must be confest, that all Regards to Right and Property, seem entirely without Foundation.
1766 Mod. Part Universal Hist. XLIV. 91 Abstracting from these conveniencies, the coutry is barren, producing scarce any corn or grass.
1847 T. De Quincey Secret Societies in Tait's Edinb. Mag. Aug. 519/1 Abstracting, however, from the violent disturbances of those stormy times..we may collect that the scheme of the Farrers was [etc.].
1900 London Q. Rev. Apr. 276 We abstract from the differences between objects, and attend only to the common elements.
1954 R. C. O. Matthews Study in Trade-cycle Hist. vi. 77 It was not necessary for an exact year-to-year balance to be struck between imports and exports (even abstracting from long-term capital movements).
1991 Struct. Change & Econ. Dynamics 2 42 We abstract from the liquidity constraint and assume the constant availability of short-term credit from a bank.
†c. transitive (in passive). With from. To be treated or considered with a specified matter, question, etc., left out of consideration or set aside. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1634 T. Jackson Knowledg of Christ Jesus xxxiv. 383 The manner of his conception and birth (abstracted from these circumstances of place and time) is most emphatically foretold by Isaiah.
1681 V. Alsop Reply Dean of St. Pauls's Refl. 40 No Law of Man could make that to be true, religious Worship, which is not so, abstracted from the Consideration of the Law's Allowance.
c1723 J. Gay Let. 3 Feb. (1966) 42 His advice..is, to come to England, and see your friends, this he affirms (abstracted from the desire he has to see you) to be very good for your health.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. ii. vii. 268 [A] single Event taken alone, abstracted from all such Correspondence.
1766 Compl. Farmer at Turnep But, abstracted from that, the produce already obtained is more valuable than any crop I know of.
1808 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 28 May 840 If this discretionary power was required with the view of affording such relief, and not solely to be directed by the circumstances of the country, abstracted from this consideration, the interests of agriculture must be shaken to the centre.
5.
a. transitive. To formulate (an idea, concept, etc.) by isolating the intrinsic properties of something or common characteristics of a number of diverse things, without reference to the peculiar properties of any particular example or instance; to consider (something) in the abstract, independently of its associations or attributes, or separately from something from which it is not physically separable. Frequently with from.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > conceive, form in the mind [verb (transitive)] > separate
abstract1592
1592 R. Hill tr. W. Perkins Golden Chaine (ed. 2) iii. 6 The wisdome or knowledge of God, is that by the which God doth not by certaine notions abstracted from the thinges them selues, but by his owne essence..distinctly, and perfectly know him selfe, and all other things.
1612 J. Selden in M. Drayton Poly-olbion To Rdr. sig. A 2 The Verse oft..so infolds, that suddaine conceipt cannot abstract a Forme of the clothed Truth.
1656 T. Hobbes Questions Liberty, Necessity & Chance 103 This..is a Metaphysical entity abstracted from the matter, which is better than non-entity.
1679 R. South Serm. Several Occasions 98 For the Vulgar have not such Logical heads as to be able to abstract, such subtile conceptions.
1710 G. Berkeley Treat. Princ. Human Knowl. Introd. §11 Men who use Language are able to Abstract or Generalize their Ideas.
1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. xxi. 575 We may strive to abstract the notions of time, of space, and of matter.
1782 Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 367/1 How will Virgil come off, if he may not abstract the whiteness of snow from its coldness?
1812 S. T. Coleridge in R. Southey Omniana I. cxiii. 220 A confusion of..the impression of a thing as it exists in itself and extrinsically, with the idea which the mind abstracts from the impression.
1953 S. K. Langer Introd. Symbolic Logic (ed. 2) i. 36 When we consider the common form of various things,..we are consciously, deliberately abstracting the form from all things which have it.
1999 A. Maurer Philos. William of Ockham vi. 287 The Scotists would form univocal concepts by abstracting the formal natures (rationes) of things, leaving aside their differences.
2006 F. Wilczek Fantastic Realities 195 This law, abstracted from empirical data, implied that the entropy of a material vanishes at the absolute zero of temperature.
b. intransitive. To come to or produce conclusions or judgements of an abstract and general nature, through abstract reasoning without reference to the peculiar properties of particular examples or instances; to engage in the mental process of abstraction; to think abstractly. Frequently with from.
ΚΠ
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding iv. iv. 284 The Truth and Certainty of moral Discourses abstracts from the Lives of Men.
1739 E. Law in tr. W. King Ess. Origin Evil (ed. 3) i. §1 7 (note) We abstract from particular Existences and make one general Idea of Continuance, which serves for all, and this is Duration.
1792 D. Stewart Elem. Philos. Human Mind I. iv. §1. 158 This has led some philosophers to suppose..that we might have been so formed, as to be able to abstract, without being capable of generalising.
1814 R. Torrens Victim of Intolerance III. i. 33 O'Connor's understanding had an early tendency to abstract and generalize.
1827 R. Whately Elem. Logic (ed. 2) i. ii. §3 62 We abstract from them what we consider as essential; thus forming an abstract notion of the Individual.
1870 W. S. Jevons Elem. Lessons Logic xxxii. 285 To abstract is to separate the qualities common to all individuals of a group from the peculiarities of each individual.
1914 H. K. Motherwell Theatre of To-day iv. 84 Exactly as a mathematician abstracts from the numbers in a group of arithmetical problems and uses letters to represent the similar terms in each problem.
1989 R. Lawlor Earth Honoring (1991) v. 63 Their abstraction of god into a transcendental sky principle strengthened the tendency to abstract in general.
2004 V. M. Walsh Global Instit. & Social Knowl. i. 14 Collective action models tend to abstract from contextual details, facilitating formalization.
†6. transitive. To claim extraction or heredity for (a person) from a particular family or line. Cf. abstract adj. 3. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > originate or be a source of [verb (transitive)] > derive, come from, or originate in > origin or ancestry from
to derive1599
abstract1610
1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie i. vi. 27 Our vnderstanding..is informed from what Line of Consanguinitie the bearer of such difference doth abstract himselfe.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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