Etymology: (1400–50; late ME: withdrawn from worldly interests < ML abstractus, L: ptp. of abstrahere to drag away, divert =
Definition of 'Abstract'
Princeton's WordNet
1. (noun)abstraction, abstract a concept or idea not associated with any specificinstance "he loved her only in the abstract--not in person"
2. (adj)outline, synopsis, abstract, precis a sketchy summary of the main points of an argument or theory
3. (adj)abstract existing only in the mind; separated from embodiment "abstract words like `truth' and `justice'"
4. (adj)abstract, abstractionist, nonfigurative, nonobjective not representing or imitating externalreality or the objects of nature "a large abstract painting"
2. (adj)Abstract considered apart from any application to a particular object; separated from matter; existing in the mind only; as, abstract truth, abstractnumbers. Hence: ideal; abstruse; difficult
3. (adj)Abstract expressing a particularproperty of an object viewed apart from the other properties which constitute it; -- opposed to concrete; as, honesty is an abstractword
4. (adj)Abstract resulting from the mental faculty of abstraction; general as opposed to particular; as, "reptile" is an abstract or generalname
12. (adj)Abstract that which comprises or concentrates in itself the essential qualities of a larger thing or of several things. Specifically: A summary or an epitome, as of a treatise or book, or of a statement; a brief
13. (adj)Abstract a state of separation from other things; as, to consider a subject in the abstract, or apart from other associated things