Yahoo Web Search

Search results

1. Dictionary

   ab·strac·tion

   /əbˈstrakSH(ə)n/

   noun

   • 1. the quality of dealing with ideas rather than events: "topics will vary in degrees of abstraction"
   • ▪ something which exists only as an idea: "the question can no longer be treated as an academic abstraction" Similar conceptideanotionthoughtgeneralitygeneralizationtheorytheoremformulahypothesisspeculationconjecturesuppositionpresumptionOpposite factmaterial consideration
   • 2. freedom from representational qualities in art: "geometric abstraction has been a mainstay in her work"
   • ▪ an abstract work of art: "critics sought the meaning of O'Keeffe's abstractions"
   • 3. a state of preoccupation: "she sensed his momentary abstraction" Similar absentmindednessdistractionpreoccupationdaydreamingdreaminessinattentivenessinattentionwoolgatheringabsenceheedlessnessobliviousnessthoughtfulnesspensivenessmusingbroodingabsorptionengrossmentraptnessOpposite attention
   • 4. the process of considering something independently of its associations, attributes, or concrete accompaniments: "duty is no longer determined in abstraction from the consequences"
   • 5. the process of removing something, especially water from a river or other source: "the abstraction of water from springs and wells" Similar extractionremovalseparationdetachment

   Word Origin late Middle English: from Latin abstractio(n-), from the verb abstrahere ‘draw away’ (see abstract).

   Scrabble Points: 15

   • A

     1

   • B

     3

   • S

     1

   • T

     1

   • R

     1

   • A

     1

   • C

     3

   • T

     1

   • I

     1

   • O

     1

   • N

     1

   Powered by Oxford Dictionaries

   More definitions, origin and scrabble points