Main Entry:: ¹ab·stract
Pronunciation:: \ab-ˈstrakt, ˈab-ˌ\
Function:: adjective
Etymology:: Medieval Latin abstractus, from Latin, past participle of abstrahere to drag away, from abs-, ab- + trahere to pull, draw
Date:: 14th century

1 a: disassociated from any specific instance <an abstract entity> b: difficult to understand : abstruse <abstract problems> c: insufficiently factual : formal <possessed only an abstract right>2: expressing a quality apart from an object <the word poem is concrete, poetry is abstract>3 a: dealing with a subject in its abstract aspects : theoretical <abstract science> b: impersonal , detached <the abstract compassion of a surgeon — Time>4: having only intrinsic form with little or no attempt at pictorial representation or narrative content <abstract painting>

— ab·stract·ly

\ab-ˈstrak(t)-lē, ˈab-ˌ\ adverb

— ab·stract·ness

\ab-ˈstrak(t)-nəs, ˈab-ˌ\ noun

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