FinnHun Finnish-Hungarian-English on-line dictionary and thesaurus

n The act of abstracting, separating, withdrawing, or taking away; withdrawal; the state of being taken away. (defdate|First attested around 1350 to 1470.)(reference-book | last =| first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | editor =Brown, Lesley | others = | title = The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary | origdate = | origyear = 1933| origmonth = | url = | format = | accessdate = | accessyear = | accessmonth = | edition = 5th | date = | year =2003| month = | publisher =Oxford University Press | location =Oxford, UK | language = | id = | doi = | isbn =978-0-19-860575-7 | lccn = | ol = | pages =10| chapter = | chapterurl = | quote =)

n A separation from worldly objects; a recluse life, as a hermit|hermit's 'abstraction'; the withdrawal from one's senses. (defdate|First attested around 1350 to 1470.)

n 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. (defdate|First attested in the late 16^th century.)

n The act of comparing commonality between distinct objects and organizing using those similarities; the act of generalizing characteristics; the product of said generalization. (defdate|First attested in the late 16^th century.)

n An idea or notion of an abstract or theoretical nature. (defdate|First attested in the late 16^th century.)

n Absence or absorption of mind; inattention to present objects; preoccupation. (defdate|First attested in the late 18^th century.)

n (art) An abstract creation, or piece of art; qualities of artwork that are free from representational aspects. (defdate|First attested in the early 20^th century.)(reference-book | last = Dobbie | first = Elliott K. | coauthors = Dunmore, C. William, et al. | editor = Barnhart, Robert K.| title = Chambers Dictionary of Etymology | origyear = 1998 | year = 2004 | publisher = Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd | location = Edinburgh, Scotland | isbn =0550142304 | pages = 5)

n (chemistry) A separation of volatile parts by the act of distillation.

n An idea of an unrealistic or visionary nature.

n The result of mentally abstracting an idea; the results of said process.

n (geology) The merging of two river valleys by the larger of the two deepening and widening so much so, as to assimilate the smaller.

n (computing) Any generalization technique that ignores or hides details to capture some kind of commonality between different instances for the purpose of controlling the intellectual complexity of engineered systems, particularly software systems.

n (computing) Any intellectual construct produced through the technique of abstraction.