abstract

• n. 摘要；抽象；抽象的概念
• adj. 抽象的；深奧的
• vt. 摘要；提取；使……抽象化；轉移(注意力、興趣等)；使心不在焉
• vi. 做摘要；寫梗概

前綴abs-為ab-變體，離開。詞根tract,拉，見attract，吸引。

abstract (adj.)

late 14c., originally in grammar (of nouns), from Latin abstractus "drawn away," past participle of abstrahere "to drag away, detach, pull away, divert;" also figuratively, from ab(s)- "away" (see ab-) + trahere "draw" (see tract (n.1)).

Meaning "withdrawn or separated from material objects or practical matters" is from mid-15c. That of "difficult to understand, abstruse" is from c. 1400. Specifically in reference to modern art, it dates from 1914; abstract expressionism as an American-based uninhibited approach to art exemplified by Jackson Pollock is from 1952, but the term itself had been used in the 1920s of Kandinsky and others.

Oswald Herzog, in an article on "Der Abstrakte Expressionismus" (Sturm, heft 50, 1919) gives us a statement which with equal felicity may be applied to the artistic attitude of the Dadaists. "Abstract Expressionism is perfect Expressionism," he writes. "It is pure creation. It casts spiritual processes into a corporeal mould. It does not borrow objects from the real world; it creates its own objects .... The abstract reveals the will of the artist; it becomes expression. ..." [William A. Drake, "The Life and Deeds of Dada," 1922]

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Then, that art we have called "abstract" for want of any possible descriptive term, with which we have been patient, and, even, appreciative, getting high stimulation by the new Guggenheim "non-objective" Art Museum, is reflected in our examples of "surrealism," "dadaism," and what-not, to assert our acquaintance in every art, fine or other. [Report of the Art Reference Department of Pratt Institute Free Library for year ending June 30, 1937]

abstract (n.)

"abridgement or summary of a document," mid-15c., from abstract (adj.). The general sense of "a smaller quantity containing the virtue or power of a greater" [Johnson] is recorded from 1560s.

abstract (v.)

1540s, from Latin abstractus or else from the adjective abstract. Related: Abstracted; abstracting, abstractedly.

1. His painting went through both representational and abstract periods.

他的繪畫經曆了具象風格和抽象風格兩個階段。

來自柯林斯例句

2. Money was a commodity she never thought about except in the abstract.

錢對她來說就是個抽象的東西，她從不去想錢。

來自柯林斯例句

3. In the exhibition, abstract paintings are juxtaposed with shocking photographs.

展覽會上抽象畫與令人震驚的照片並列展出。

來自《權威詞典》

4. I like dogs in the abstract, but I can't bear this one.

一般來說我喜歡狗, 可是我不能容忍這一隻.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

5. He is an abstract painter.

他是一個抽象派畫家.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》