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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Abstract \Ab"stract`\ (#; 277), a. [L. abstractus, p. p. of
abstrahere to draw from, separate; ab, abs trahere to draw.
See {Trace}.]
1. Withdraw; separate. [Obs.]
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The more abstract . . . we are from the body.
--Norris.
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2. Considered apart from any application to a particular
object; separated from matter; existing in the mind only;
as, abstract truth, abstract numbers. Hence: ideal;
abstruse; difficult.
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3. (Logic)
(a) Expressing a particular property of an object viewed
apart from the other properties which constitute it;
-- opposed to {concrete}; as, honesty is an abstract
word. --J. S. Mill.
(b) Resulting from the mental faculty of abstraction;
general as opposed to particular; as, "reptile" is an
abstract or general name. --Locke.
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A concrete name is a name which stands for a
thing; an abstract name which stands for an
attribute of a thing. A practice has grown up in
more modern times, which, if not introduced by
Locke, has gained currency from his example, of
applying the expression "abstract name" to all
names which are the result of abstraction and
generalization, and consequently to all general
names, instead of confining it to the names of
attributes. --J. S. Mill.
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4. Abstracted; absent in mind. "Abstract, as in a trance."
--Milton.
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{An abstract idea} (Metaph.), an idea separated from a
complex object, or from other ideas which naturally
accompany it; as the solidity of marble when contemplated
apart from its color or figure.

{Abstract terms}, those which express abstract ideas, as
beauty, whiteness, roundness, without regarding any object
in which they exist; or abstract terms are the names of
orders, genera or species of things, in which there is a
combination of similar qualities.

{Abstract numbers} (Math.), numbers used without application
to things, as 6, 8, 10; but when applied to any thing, as
6 feet, 10 men, they become concrete.

{Abstract mathematics} or {Pure mathematics}. See
{Mathematics}.
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Abstract \Ab*stract"\, v. t.
To perform the process of abstraction. [R.]
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I own myself able to abstract in one sense. --Berkeley.
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Abstract \Ab*stract"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Abstracted}; p. pr.
& vb. n. {Abstracting}.] [See {Abstract}, a.]
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1. To withdraw; to separate; to take away.
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He was incapable of forming any opinion or
resolution abstracted from his own prejudices. --Sir
W. Scott.
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2. To draw off in respect to interest or attention; as, his
was wholly abstracted by other objects.
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The young stranger had been abstracted and silent.
--Blackw. Mag.
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3. To separate, as ideas, by the operation of the mind; to
consider by itself; to contemplate separately, as a
quality or attribute. --Whately.
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4. To epitomize; to abridge. --Franklin.
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5. To take secretly or dishonestly; to purloin; as, to
abstract goods from a parcel, or money from a till.
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Von Rosen had quietly abstracted the bearing-reins
from the harness. --W. Black.
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6. (Chem.) To separate, as the more volatile or soluble parts
of a substance, by distillation or other chemical
processes. In this sense extract is now more generally
used.
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Abstract \Ab"stract`\, n. [See {Abstract}, a.]
1. 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.
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An abstract of every treatise he had read. --Watts.
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Man, the abstract
Of all perfection, which the workmanship
Of Heaven hath modeled. --Ford.
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2. A state of separation from other things; as, to consider a
subject in the abstract, or apart from other associated
things.
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3. An abstract term.
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The concretes "father" and "son" have, or might
have, the abstracts "paternity" and "filiety." --J.
S. Mill.
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4. (Med.) A powdered solid extract of a vegetable substance
mixed with lactose in such proportion that one part of the
abstract represents two parts of the original substance.
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{Abstract of title} (Law), a document which provides a
summary of the history of ownership of a parcel of real
estate, including the conveyances and mortgages; also
called {brief of title}.
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Syn: Abridgment; compendium; epitome; synopsis. See
{Abridgment}.
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