English
abstract
Abstract comes from Latin abstractus ‘drawn away from, having been drawn away from’, and goes back to trahō ‘to pull, draw’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrahō1‘to pull, draw’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEabstrahō1‘draw away’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEabstractus1‘drawn away from, having been drawn away from’perfect passive participle of abstrahō
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500abstract1‘having been above the ground’
- Englishearliest quotation 1601abstract1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English abstract
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1601, John Marston, Antonio's Revenge: “Poison from roses who could e'er abstract?”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrahōWiktionary, English abstract‘to pull, draw’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEabstrahōWiktionary, English abstract‘draw away’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEabstractusWiktionary, English abstract‘drawn away from, having been drawn away from’perfect passive participle of abstrahō
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500abstractWiktionary, English abstract‘having been above the ground’
- Englishearliest quotation 1601abstractWiktionary, English abstract. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1601, John Marston, Antonio's Revenge: “Poison from roses who could e'er abstract?”
first attested The verbal sense is first attested in 1542 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)
The story
The verbal sense is first attested in 1542.
Linked words
through Latin trahō ‘to pull, draw’
treat, contract, attractive, portrait, attraction, extract, trait, traction, tractor, tram, distract, retract, trattoria, tractable, 34 more
Today it means
noun An abridgement or summary of a longer publication.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “abstract”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin trahō / abstract