" abstract "

[Adjective]  | "ab*stract" | \ ab-ˈstrakt \

1: disassociated from any specific instance

2: difficult to understand : abstruse

3: insufficiently factual : formal

Origin: 14th century ;

 Middle English, "withdrawn, removed, abstruse, extracted from a longer work, (of nouns in grammar) not concrete," borrowed from Medieval Latin abstractus "removed, secluded, incorporeal, universal, extracted from a larger work, summarized," going back to Latin, past participle of abstrahere "to remove forcibly, turn aside, divert," from abs- (variant of ab- {see: |ab-|ab-} before c- and t-) + trahere "to drag, draw, take along," of uncertain origin;

  * Note : The etymology of trahere beyond Latin is problematic. It would require a verbal base *tregh-, a shape that is not allowable by Indo-European root structure constraints (voiceless stops cannot co-occur with voiced aspirated stops, though there may be exceptions if a sonorant is interposed). However, aside from loans and expressive formations, Latin words do not begin with dr-, so it is conceivable that initial dr- in an inherited root could have shifted to tr-. The verb trahere then invites comparison with Germanic *dragan- "to draw, pull" (see: {draw:1|draw:1}), virtually identical in meaning, though this presupposes a further change, since *dragan- must descend from Indo-European *dhrogh-. Thus *dhragheti > *dragheti (by dissimulation of the first aspirate) > trahit (3rd person singular present tense). (See M. Weiss, Outline of the Historical and Comparative Grammar of Latin, 2nd edition [Ann Arbor, 2020], pp. 169, 176.) Alternatively, trahere has been compared with Old Irish tethraig "ebbed, receded," with nominal correspondents tráig "beach, shore," Middle Welsh trei "ebb, draining," all presupposing a root *treHgh- or *tragh-. (See S. Schumacher, Die keltischen Primärverben [Innsbruck, 2004], pp. 635-36; his hypothesis is seconded by M. de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the Other Italic Languages [Leiden, 2008].) M. Weis, on the other hand, would assign this etymon to *tregh- "run" (whence Old English þrǣgan "to run," Gothic biþragjan)—see: "Limited Latin Grassmann's Law: Do We Need It?," Vina Diem Celebrent: Studies in Linguistics and Philology in Honor of Brent Vine (Ann Arbor, 2018), pp. 438-47. See further P. Schrijver, The Reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European Laryngeals in Latin (Amsterdam, 1991), pp. 188-89, where an attempt is made to explain the of trahere by the assumption of a laryngeal in the root.;

[Noun]  | "ab*stract" | \ ˈab-ˌstrakt \

1: a summary of points (as of a writing) usually presented in skeletal form; also : something that summarizes or concentrates the essentials of a larger thing or several things

2: an abstract thing or state

3: abstraction

Origin: 15th century ;

 Middle English, derivative of abstract {see: |abstract:1|abstract:1} (or borrowed directly from Medieval Latin abstractus);

[Noun]  | "abstract algebra" 

1: a branch of mathematics in which algebraic concepts are generalized by using symbols to represent basic arithmetical operations

Origin: 1859 ;

[Noun]  | "abstract expressionism" 

1: an artistic movement of the mid-20th century comprising diverse styles and techniques and emphasizing especially an artist's liberty to convey attitudes and emotions through nontraditional and usually nonrepresentational means

Origin: 1922 ;

[Verb]  | "ab*stract" | \ ab-ˈstrakt \

1: to make a summary or abstract of : summarize

2: to draw away the attention of

3: steal, purloin

Origin: 15th century ;

 Middle English abstracten "to draw away, remove," derivative of abstract {see: |abstract:1|abstract:1} (or borrowed directly from Latin abstractus);

[Noun phrase]  | "abstract of title" 

1: a summary statement of the successive conveyances and other facts on which a title to a piece of land rests

Origin: 1797 ;

[Idiom]  | "in the abstract" 

1: without referring to a specific person, object, or event : in a general way

[Adjective]  | "abstract" 

[Noun]  | "abstract" 

[Verb]  | "abstract"