abstraction

Meanings

Plural: abstractions

Noun

• a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance
• the act of withdrawing or removing something
• the process of formulating general concepts by abstracting common properties of instances
• an abstract painting
• preoccupation with something to the exclusion of all else
• a general concept formed by extracting common features from specific examples
• The act of abstracting, separating, withdrawing, or taking away; withdrawal; the state of being taken away.
• The taking surreptitiously for one's own use part of the property of another; purloining.
• The act of abstracting, separating, withdrawing, or taking away; withdrawal; the state of being taken away.
• Removal of water from a river, lake, or aquifer.
• The act of abstracting, separating, withdrawing, or taking away; withdrawal; the state of being taken away.
• A separation from worldly objects; a recluse life; the withdrawal from one's senses.
• The act of focusing on one characteristic of an object rather than the object as a whole group of characteristics; the act of separating said qualities from the object or ideas.
• Any characteristic of an individual object when that characteristic has been separated from the object and is contemplated alone as a quality having independent existence.
• A member of an idealized subgroup when contemplated according to the abstracted quality which defines the subgroup.
• The act of comparing commonality between distinct objects and organizing using those similarities; the act of generalizing characteristics; the product of said generalization.
• An idea or notion of an abstract or theoretical nature.
• Absence or absorption of mind; inattention to present objects; preoccupation.
• An abstract creation, or piece of art; qualities of artwork that are free from representational aspects.
• A separation of volatile parts by the act of distillation.
• An idea of an idealistic, unrealistic or visionary nature.
• The result of mentally abstracting an idea; the product of any mental process involving a synthesis of: separation, despecification, generalization, and ideation in any of a number of combinations.
• The merging of two river valleys by the larger of the two deepening and widening so much so, as to assimilate the smaller.
• Hiding implementation details from the interface of a component, to decrease complexity through interdependency and improve modularity; a construct that serves as such.

Synonyms

abstract, abstract entity, abstractedness, generalisation, generalization, universalization

Antonyms

concretization, specialization

Related Words

abstract