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ing with the elements of water; -- so called because it may be formed from an acid by the abstraction of water.

nsive maxim or principle expressed in a few words; a sharply defined sentence relating to abstract truth rather than to practical matters. The first aphorism of Hippocrates is, "Life is short, and the art is long." Fleming.

ject matter of a discourse, writing, or artistic representation; theme or topic; also, an abstract or summary, as of the contents of a book, chapter, poem. You and love are still my argument. Shak. The abstract or argument of the piece. Jeffrey. [Shields] with boastful argument portrayed. Milton.

ll, in its parchment, written character, date, and seal. See Bull. -- Brief of title, an abstract or abridgment of all the deeds and other papers constituting the chain of title to any real estate. -- In brief, in a few words; in short; briefly. "Open the matter in brief." Shak.

- Brown stout, a strong kind of proter or malt liquor. -- Brown study, a state of mental abstraction or serious reverie. W. Irving.

process of grasping with the intellect; perception; understanding; as, a comprehension of abstract principles.

An abstract general conception; a notion; a universal. The words conception, concept, notion, should be limited to the thought of what can not be represented in the imagination; as, the thought suggested by a general term. Sir W. Hamilton.

ttracts the water; a metaphorical term obviously intended to denote some more general and abstract conception than that of the visible operation which the word primarily signifies. Whewell.

its qualities, as distingushed from standing for an attribute of an object; -- opposed to abstract. Hence:

e act or process of passing, or causing to pass, from a fluid to a solid state, as by the abstraction of heat; the act or process of freezing.

Abstracted; removed from close representation of nature by the deliberate selection of what is to be represented and what is to be rejected; as, a conventional flower; a conventional shell. Cf. Conventionalize, v. t.

An abstraction of money, etc., by an officer or agent

Abstraction of a child from its parents. Lamb.

Having a specific name or denomination; specified in the concrete as opposed to abstract; thus, 7 feet is a denominate quantity, while 7 is mere abstract quantity or number. See Compound number, under Compound.

The number of simple elements which an abstract conception or notion includes; the comprehension or content.

Abstraction from worldly objects; renunciation. A trial which would have demanded of him a most heroic faith and the detachment of a saint. J. H. Newman.

Absent-minded; lost in thought; abstracted.

To make a brief abstract of (a writing) and indorse it on the back of the paper, or to indorse the title or contents on the back of; to summarize; as, to docket letters and papers. Chesterfield.

One who would apply to political or other practical concerns the abstract doctrines or the theories of his own philosophical system; a propounder of a new set of opinions; a dogmatic theorist. Used also adjectively; as, doctrinaire notions.

An image or effigy; -- used rather in an abstract sense, and rarely for a work of art.