ABSTRACTION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does abstraction mean? 

• ABSTRACTION (noun)
  The noun ABSTRACTION has 6 senses:

1. a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance

2. the act of withdrawing or removing something

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

4. an abstract painting

5. preoccupation with something to the exclusion of all else

6. a general concept formed by extracting common features from specific examples

  Familiarity information: ABSTRACTION used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ABSTRACTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A concept or idea not associated with any specific instance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

abstract; abstraction

Context example:

he loved her only in the abstract--not in person

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)

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:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

abstraction; generalisation; generalization

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 4

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 5

Meaning:

Preoccupation with something to the exclusion of all else

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

abstractedness; abstraction

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 6

Meaning:

A general concept formed by extracting common features from specific examples

Classified under:

Nouns with no superordinates

Synonyms:

abstract entity; abstraction

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)

 Context examples 

The workflow status associated with a document version from submission thru abstraction.

(Document Version Workflow Status, NCI Thesaurus)

I beg your pardon, miss, he said, awakening from his abstraction, but, however submissive to you, I have my position, though a servant.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A set of ideas, abstractions, or things in the real world that can be identified with explicit boundaries and meaning and whose properties and behavior follow the same rules.

(Object Class, NCI Thesaurus)

His abnormal power of vision made abstractions take on concrete form.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A 25-item screening test for dementia that provides quantitative assessment on attention, concentration, orientation, short-term memory, long-term memory, language abilities, visual construction, list-generating fluency, abstraction, and judgment.

(Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument, NCI Thesaurus)

And as to ideas, entities, abstractions, and transcendentals, I could never drive the least conception into their heads.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

He got up, held it close to my eyes: and I read, traced in Indian ink, in my own handwriting, the words "JANE EYRE"—the work doubtless of some moment of abstraction.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A visual representation of an object, scene, person or abstraction.

(Picture, NCI Thesaurus)

Another short fit of abstraction followed, when, shaking it off, she thus attacked her companion.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

He was shy, and disposed to abstraction; but the engaging mildness of her countenance, and gentleness of her manners, soon had their effect; and Anne was well repaid the first trouble of exertion.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)