Abstraction

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language

·adj Absence or absorption of mind; inattention to present objects.

II. Abstraction ·adj A separation from worldly objects; a recluse life; as, a hermit's abstraction.

III. Abstraction ·adj A separation of volatile parts by the act of Distillation.

IV. Abstraction ·adj The taking surreptitiously for one's own use part of the property of another; purloining.

V. Abstraction ·adj An idea or notion of an abstract, or theoretical nature; as, to fight for mere abstractions.

VI. Abstraction ·adj The act of abstracting, separating, or withdrawing, or the state of being withdrawn; withdrawal.

VII. Abstraction ·adj 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.