*abstract*

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Abstracted; p. pr. & vb. n. Abstracting. ] [ See Abstract, a. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To withdraw; to separate; to take away. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was incapable of forming any opinion or resolution abstracted from his own prejudices. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To draw off in respect to interest or attention; as, his was wholly abstracted by other objects. [ 1913 Webster ]

The young stranger had been abstracted and silent. Blackw. Mag. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To separate, as ideas, by the operation of the mind; to consider by itself; to contemplate separately, as a quality or attribute. Whately. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To epitomize; to abridge. Franklin. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To take secretly or dishonestly; to purloin; as, to abstract goods from a parcel, or money from a till. [ 1913 Webster ]

Von Rosen had quietly abstracted the bearing-reins from the harness. W. Black. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Chem.) To separate, as the more volatile or soluble parts of a substance, by distillation or other chemical processes. In this sense extract is now more generally used. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To perform the process of abstraction. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I own myself able to abstract in one sense. Berkeley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Abstract, a. ] 1. That which comprises or concentrates in itself the essential qualities of a larger thing or of several things. Specifically: A summary or an epitome, as of a treatise or book, or of a statement; a brief. [ 1913 Webster ]

An abstract of every treatise he had read. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

Man, the abstract
Of all perfection, which the workmanship
Of Heaven hath modeled. Ford. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A state of separation from other things; as, to consider a subject in the abstract, or apart from other associated things. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An abstract term. [ 1913 Webster ]

The concretes “father” and “son” have, or might have, the abstracts “paternity” and “filiety.” J. S. Mill. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Med.) A powdered solid extract of a vegetable substance mixed with lactose in such proportion that one part of the abstract represents two parts of the original substance. [ 1913 Webster + AS ]

Abstract of title (Law), a document which provides a summary of the history of ownership of a parcel of real estate, including the conveyances and mortgages; also called brief of title. [ 1913 Webster + PJC ]

Syn. -- Abridgment; compendium; epitome; synopsis. See Abridgment. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Separated or disconnected; withdrawn; removed; apart. [ 1913 Webster ]

The evil abstracted stood from his own evil. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Separated from matter; abstract; ideal. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Abstract; abstruse; difficult. [ Obs. ] Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Inattentive to surrounding objects; absent in mind. “An abstracted scholar.” Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an abstracted manner; separately; with absence of mind. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being abstracted; abstract character. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who abstracts, or makes an abstract. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. abstraction. See Abstract, a. ] 1. The act of abstracting, separating, or withdrawing, or the state of being withdrawn; withdrawal. [ 1913 Webster ]

A wrongful abstraction of wealth from certain members of the community. J. S. Mill. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Metaph.) The act process of leaving out of consideration one or more properties of a complex object so as to attend to others; analysis. Thus, when the mind considers the form of a tree by itself, or the color of the leaves as separate from their size or figure, the act is called abstraction. So, also, when it considers whiteness, softness, virtue, existence, as separate from any particular objects. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Abstraction is necessary to classification, by which things are arranged in genera and species. We separate in idea the qualities of certain objects, which are of the same kind, from others which are different, in each, and arrange the objects having the same properties in a class, or collected body. [ 1913 Webster ]

Abstraction is no positive act: it is simply the negative of attention. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An idea or notion of an abstract, or theoretical nature; as, to fight for mere abstractions. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A separation from worldly objects; a recluse life; as, a hermit's abstraction. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Absence or absorption of mind; inattention to present objects. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. The taking surreptitiously for one's own use part of the property of another; purloining. [ Modern ] [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Chem.) A separation of volatile parts by the act of distillation. Nicholson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to abstraction. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An idealist. Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Obtained from plants by distillation. [ Obs. ] Crabb. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. abstractif. ] Having the power of abstracting; of an abstracting nature. “The abstractive faculty.” I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a abstract manner; separately; in or by itself. Feltham. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being abstractive; abstractive property. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an abstract state or manner; separately; absolutely; by itself; as, matter abstractly considered. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being abstract. “The abstractness of the ideas.” Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]