The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Abstract \Ab"stract`\, 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.
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An abstract of every treatise he had read. --Watts.
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Man, the abstract
Of all perfection, which the workmanship
Of Heaven hath modeled. --Ford.
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2. A state of separation from other things; as, to consider a
subject in the abstract, or apart from other associated
things.
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3. An abstract term.
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The concretes "father" and "son" have, or might
have, the abstracts "paternity" and "filiety." --J.
S. Mill.
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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.
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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.
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Syn: Abridgment; compendium; epitome; synopsis. See
Abridgment.
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