abstract of title

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

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]