| Library / English Dictionary |
ABSTRACTION
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A general concept formed by extracting common features from specific examples
Synonyms:
abstract entity; abstraction
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("abstraction" is a kind of...):
entity (that which is perceived or known or inferred to have its own distinct existence (living or nonliving))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "abstraction"):
psychological feature (a feature of the mental life of a living organism)
attribute (an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of an entity)
group; grouping (any number of entities (members) considered as a unit)
relation (an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of two entities or parts together)
communication (something that is communicated by or to or between people or groups)
amount; measure; quantity (how much there is or how many there are of something that you can quantify)
otherworld (an abstract spiritual world beyond earthly reality)
set ((mathematics) an abstract collection of numbers or symbols)
Derivation:
abstract (consider a concept without thinking of a specific example; consider abstractly or theoretically)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The act of withdrawing or removing something
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("abstraction" is a kind of...):
remotion; removal (the act of removing)
Sense 3
Meaning:
An abstract painting
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("abstraction" is a kind of...):
painting; picture (graphic art consisting of an artistic composition made by applying paints to a surface)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Preoccupation with something to the exclusion of all else
Synonyms:
abstractedness; abstraction
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("abstraction" is a kind of...):
absorption; engrossment; preoccupancy; preoccupation (the mental state of being preoccupied by something)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "abstraction"):
reverie; revery (an abstracted state of absorption)
Sense 5
Meaning:
The process of formulating general concepts by abstracting common properties of instances
Synonyms:
abstraction; generalisation; generalization
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("abstraction" is a kind of...):
theorisation; theorization (the production or use of theories)
Derivation:
abstract (consider a concept without thinking of a specific example; consider abstractly or theoretically)
Sense 6
Meaning:
A concept or idea not associated with any specific instance
Example:
he loved her only in the abstract--not in person
Synonyms:
abstract; abstraction
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("abstraction" is a kind of...):
concept; conception; construct (an abstract or general idea inferred or derived from specific instances)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "abstraction"):
right (an abstract idea of that which is due to a person or governmental body by law or tradition or nature)
absolute (something that is conceived or that exists independently and not in relation to other things; something that does not depend on anything else and is beyond human control; something that is not relative)
teacher (a personified abstraction that teaches)
thing (a special abstraction)
Derivation:
abstract (consider a concept without thinking of a specific example; consider abstractly or theoretically)
Context examples:
He followed the man, reached the window, saw the abstraction of the documents, and pursued the thief.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Babies are doing really powerful abstraction from just their observation of the world.
(Infants Are Able to Learn Abstract Rules Visually, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Skiff Miller's abstraction disappeared.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
Had she tried to speak, or had she been conscious of half Mrs. Jennings's well-meant but ill-judged attentions to her, this calmness could not have been maintained; but not a syllable escaped her lips; and the abstraction of her thoughts preserved her in ignorance of every thing that was passing before her.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
I can't do it any other way, for you are both congenitally unable to understand a philosophic abstraction.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Fanny was too well aware of it to have anything to say; and they walked on together some fifty yards in mutual silence and abstraction.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
There was much sense in your smile: it was very shrewd, and seemed to make light of your own abstraction.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
It was suggested, but never proved, that the deceased gentleman may have had valuables in the house, and that their abstraction was the motive of the crime.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was so beautiful in its form, it was so ashy pale, it was so fixed in its abstraction, it was so full of a wild, sleep-walking, dreamy horror of I don't know what.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Renunciation, sacrifice, patience, industry, and high endeavor were the principles she thus indirectly preached—such abstractions being objectified in her mind by her father, and Mr. Butler, and by Andrew Carnegie, who, from a poor immigrant boy had arisen to be the book-giver of the world.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
