Abstract has 12 different meanings across 3 categories:
a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance
"he loved her only in the abstract--not in person"
An abridgement or summary of a longer publication.
"Before reading the entire novel, she scanned the abstract to decide if the plot interested her."
In plain English: An abstract is a short summary of a longer document that gives you the main points without showing all the details.
"The student struggled to understand the abstract concepts in his art history class."
Usage: Use the noun abstract to refer to a concise summary of a research paper, book, or article that outlines its main points without including the full text. Do not confuse this with the adjective form, which describes something theoretical rather than concrete.
consider a concept without thinking of a specific example; consider abstractly or theoretically
"The professor asked us to debate the theory of justice without getting bogged down in any particular legal case."
consider apart from a particular case or instance
"Let's abstract away from this particular example"
give an abstract (of)
"I need to find time to read through all the meeting abstracts before deciding which sessions to attend."
To separate; to disengage.
"He had to mentally abstract himself from the heated argument before he could speak calmly again."
In plain English: To abstract something means to take only the most important parts of it while leaving out the rest.
"You should not abstract facts from their original context when presenting them to the class."
Usage: As a verb, abstract means to take something away from its original context or to extract it, such as when you abstract data from a report. Use this term when describing the act of removing an element to study it separately rather than in its natural setting.
existing only in the mind; separated from embodiment
"abstract words like `truth' and `justice'"
not representing or imitating external reality or the objects of nature
"a large abstract painting"
dealing with a subject in the abstract without practical purpose or intention
"abstract reasoning"
"abstract science"
Derived; extracted.
"The chef carefully abstracted the best flavors from the herbs to create a unique broth."
In plain English: Abstract means something that is not real or physical and cannot be touched.
"The abstract concept of love was hard for him to explain."
Usage: Use "abstract" as an adjective to describe something theoretical or disconnected from actual facts and real life, rather than referring to physical extraction. It characterizes ideas that exist only in the mind without direct application to concrete reality.
The word "abstract" comes from the Latin verb abstrahō, which literally means "to draw away." It entered English in the mid-16th century with this original sense of pulling something apart or separating it from a whole.