abstract
UK[ˈæbstrækt]US[ˈæbˌstrækt]
adj
Existing as an idea or quality, not having a physical or concrete existence.
adj
Relating to or involving general ideas or qualities rather than specific people, objects, or actions.
n
A summary of the main points of a text, speech, or piece of research.
v
To consider something theoretically or separately from something else.
v
To extract or remove something.
Morpheme Breakdown
abs
tract
abs
away
tract
pull, draw
Etymology
The word 'abstract' entered English in the late 14th century from the Latin abstractus, the past participle of abstrahere, meaning "to drag away, detach, pull away, divert." The Latin verb is a compound of abs- (a variant of ab-, meaning "away") and trahere (meaning "to draw"). This literal sense of "drawing away" evolved logically: to mentally "draw away" the essential qualities from a physical object is to form an abstract idea. Over time, the meaning shifted from the physical act of removal to the conceptual realm, describing ideas separated from material existence. The verb sense of "to summarize" developed from the notion of "extracting" the essence of a longer work.
Analysis
Structure: abs (away) + tract (pull, draw)
- abs: A Latin prefix meaning "away from" or "off." It is a variant of 'ab-' used before 'c', 't', and sometimes 's'.
- tract: From Latin tractus, the past participle of trahere, meaning "to pull" or "to draw."
Examples
The concept of justice is an abstract idea.
Please write a 200-word abstract of your research paper.
It is difficult to abstract the core principles from such a complex theory.