Link Centre Dictionary

abstraction

abst·rac·tion

UK/əbˈstɹæk.ʃn̩/ US/æbˈstɹæk.ʃn̩/ rare

noun

1.

a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance

  • “he loved her only in the abstract--not in person”
Synonyms
2.

the act of withdrawing or removing something

3.

the process of formulating general concepts by abstracting common properties of instances

Synonyms
4.
5.

preoccupation with something to the exclusion of all else

Synonyms
6.

a general concept formed by extracting common features from specific examples

Origin

From Middle English abstraccyone; either from Middle French abstraction or from Medieval Latin abstrāctiō (“separation”), from Latin abstrahō (“draw away”). Equivalent to abstract + -ion.

Phrases

  • axiom schema of abstraction
  • eccentric abstraction
  • lambda abstraction
  • leaky abstraction

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.