Origin: Latin suffix -tion
Abstraction has 8 different meanings across 1 category:
a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance
"he loved her only in the abstract--not in person"
the act of withdrawing or removing something
"The bank's sudden abstraction of our savings left us unable to pay rent."
the process of formulating general concepts by abstracting common properties of instances
"The philosopher spent hours studying various fruits to identify the shared qualities that formed an abstraction of fruit in general."
an abstract painting
"The gallery wall was dominated by large canvases featuring bold shapes and vibrant colors typical of abstraction."
preoccupation with something to the exclusion of all else
"The professor was so deep in an abstraction about quantum mechanics that he completely forgot his own name."
a general concept formed by extracting common features from specific examples
"The artist's painting was an abstraction of human emotion, capturing only the universal feeling of sorrow rather than depicting any single person."
The act of abstracting, separating, withdrawing, or taking away; withdrawal; the state of being taken away.
"The sudden abstraction of funds from his account left him unable to pay his rent."
The taking surreptitiously for one's own use part of the property of another; purloining.
"The thief stole a small abstraction from the merchant's safe, slipping out before anyone noticed he was gone."
In plain English: Abstraction is an idea that represents something without showing all its specific details.
"The artist explained that her painting was an abstraction rather than a realistic portrait."
Usage: In modern usage, "abstraction" almost exclusively refers to a concept or idea derived from generalizing specific instances, rather than the archaic meanings involving withdrawal or theft. Avoid using it as a synonym for "concrete detail," which is its direct opposite in logical reasoning.
The word comes from the Medieval Latin abstrāctiō, meaning "separation," which is derived from the Latin verb abstrahō ("to draw away"). It entered English via Middle French or directly through Middle English, combining the root for abstract with a suffix indicating an action or state.