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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

abstract.

An abridgement or summary of a longer publication.

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈæbˌstɹækt/General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. An abridgement or summary of a longer publication.

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

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

  4. Something that concentrates in itself the qualities of a larger item, or multiple items. A powdered solid extract of a medicinal substance mixed with lactose.

  5. An abstraction; an abstract term; that which is abstract.

  6. The theoretical way of looking at things; something that exists only in idealized form.

  7. An abstract work of art.

  8. A summary title of the key points detailing a tract of land, for ownership; abstract of title.

Where this word comes from

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.

adj/ˈæbˌstɹækt/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˌæbˈstɹækt/General-American/əbˈstɹækt/General-American
  1. Derived; extracted.

    obsolete
  2. Drawn away; removed from; apart from; separate.

    archaic
  3. Not concrete: conceptual, ideal.

    Her new film is an abstract piece, combining elements of magic realism, flashbacks, and animation but with very little in terms of plot construction.
  4. Not concrete: conceptual, ideal. Insufficiently factual.

  5. Not concrete: conceptual, ideal. Apart from practice or reality; vague; theoretical; impersonal; not applied.

  6. Not concrete: conceptual, ideal. As a noun, denoting a concept or intangible as opposed to an object, place, or person.

  7. Difficult to understand; abstruse; hard to conceptualize.

    The politician gave a somewhat abstract answer when asked about their plans to cut spending.
  8. Separately expressing a property or attribute of an object that is considered to be inherent to that object: attributive, ascriptive.

  9. Pertaining comprehensively to, or representing, a class or group of objects, as opposed to any specific object; considered apart from any application to a particular object: general, generic, nonspecific; representational.

  10. Absent-minded.

    archaic
  11. Pertaining to the formal aspect of art, such as the lines, colors, shapes, and the relationships among them. Free from representational qualities, in particular the non-representational styles of the 20ᵗʰ century.

    capitalized · often
  12. Pertaining to the formal aspect of art, such as the lines, colors, shapes, and the relationships among them. Absolute.

  13. Pertaining to the formal aspect of art, such as the lines, colors, shapes, and the relationships among them. Lacking a story.

  14. Being a partial basis for subclasses rather than a complete template for objects.

Where this word comes from

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.

verb/ˈæbˌstɹækt/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˌæbˈstɹækt/General-American/əbˈstɹækt/General-American/ˌæbˈstɹækt/General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. To separate; to disengage.

    transitive
  2. To separate; to disengage. To remove; to take away; withdraw.

    transitive
  3. To separate; to disengage. To steal; to take away; to remove without permission.

    euphemistic · transitive
  4. To separate; to disengage. To extract by means of distillation.

    obsolete · transitive
  5. To separate; to disengage. To draw off (interest or attention).

    transitive
  6. To separate; to disengage. To withdraw oneself; to retire.

    figuratively · intransitive · literally · reflexive · transitive
  7. To separate; to disengage. To consider abstractly; to contemplate separately or by itself; to consider theoretically; to look at as a general quality.

    transitive
  8. To separate; to disengage. To consider abstractly; to contemplate separately or by itself; to consider theoretically; to look at as a general quality. To conceptualize an ideal subgroup by means of the generalization of an attribute, as follows: by apprehending an attribute inherent to one individual, then separating that attribute and contemplating it by itself, then conceiving of that attribute as a general quality, then despecifying that conceived quality with respect to several or many individuals, and by then ideating a group composed of those individuals perceived to possess said quality.

    transitive
  9. To separate; to disengage. To consider abstractly; to contemplate separately or by itself; to consider theoretically; to look at as a general quality. To perform the process of abstraction.

    intransitive · rare · transitive
  10. To separate; to disengage. To consider abstractly; to contemplate separately or by itself; to consider theoretically; to look at as a general quality. To create abstractions.

    intransitive · transitive
  11. To separate; to disengage. To consider abstractly; to contemplate separately or by itself; to consider theoretically; to look at as a general quality. To produce an abstraction, usually by refactoring existing code. Generally used with “out”.

    intransitive · transitive
  12. To summarize; to abridge; to epitomize.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

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.

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Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.