abstraction

noun

ab·​strac·​tion ab-ˈstrak-shən 

əb-

1

a

: the act or process of abstracting : the state of being abstracted

b

: an abstract idea or term

2

: absence of mind or preoccupation

3

: abstract quality or character

4

a

: an abstract composition or creation in art

b

: abstractionism

abstractional

ab-ˈstrak-sh(ə-)nəl 

əb-

adjective

abstractive

ab-ˈstrak-tiv 

ˈab-ˌstrak-

adjective

Did you know?

From its roots, abstraction should mean basically "something pulled or drawn away". So abstract art is art that has moved away from painting objects of the ordinary physical world in order to show something beyond it. Theories are often abstractions; so a theory about economics, for instance, may "pull back" to take a broad view that somehow explains all of economics (but maybe doesn't end up explaining any of it very successfully). An abstract of a medical or scientific article is a one-paragraph summary of its contents—that is, the basic findings "pulled out" of the article.

Synonyms

• cogitation
• concept
• conception
• idea
• image
• impression
• intellection
• mind's eye
• notion
• picture
• thought

Examples of abstraction in a Sentence

abstraction of data from hospital records

“Beauty” and “truth” are abstractions.

She gazed out the window in abstraction.

Recent Examples on the Web

Many of Yearwood-Dan’s abstractions contain hues and titles that allude to the artist’s British Caribbean heritage. —Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 10 Sep. 2024

This, in turn, yields insights that are of lesser depth and breadth which may result in ideas that are conceptualized at a higher level of abstraction. —Tomoko Yokoi, Forbes, 6 Sep. 2024

Advertisement Barbara Hepworth, ‘Four-Square (Walk Through)’ 1966, bronze The traffic island at the Simon’s entry is dominated by Hepworth’s monumental, 14-foot-tall sculpture, which harnesses the traditional figurative material of bronze for the very different purposes of geometric abstraction. —Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 13 Aug. 2024

Then, there was the internal plot, a riot of colorful abstraction and conceptual whimsy, in which Joy and Sadness, forever at odds, had to navigate the perilous labyrinth of Riley’s mind. —Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 17 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French, "abduction (of a woman), removal, extraction (of a foreign body from a wound), (in philosophy) process by which the mind is able to form universal representations of the properties of distinct objects," borrowed from Late Latin abstractiōn-, abstractiō, from Latin abstrac- (variant stem of abstrahere "to remove forcibly") + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of action nouns — more at abstract entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

abstraction

noun

ab·​strac·​tion ab-ˈstrak-shən 

1

a

: the act or process of abstracting : the state of being abstracted

b

: an abstract idea or term

2

: an artistic composition or creation having designs that do not represent actual objects

abstractive

-ˈstrak-tiv 

adjective