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abstraction
(redirected from Abstract entity)

    Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.02 sec.

abstraction

In object technology, determining the essential characteristics of an object. Abstraction is one of the basic principles of object-oriented design, which allows for creating user-defined data types, known as objects. See object-oriented programming and encapsulation.

abstraction
1. Logic an operator that forms a class name or predicate from any given expression
2. an abstract painting, sculpture, etc.
abstraction [ab′strak·shən]
(hydrology)
The draining of water from a stream by another having more rapid corroding action.
The part of precipitation that does not become direct runoff.
1.abstraction - Generalisation; ignoring or hiding details to capture some kind of commonality between different instances. Examples are abstract data types (the representation details are hidden), abstract syntax (the details of the concrete syntax are ignored), abstract interpretation (details are ignored to analyse specific properties).
2.(programming)abstraction - Parameterisation, making something a function of something else. Examples are lambda abstractions (making a term into a function of some variable), higher-order functions (parameters are functions), bracket abstraction (making a term into a function of a variable).

Opposite of concretisation.


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It tends to figure only as an object of power (the abstract entity on which power works) or as a representation (the body as image).
From hegemony to governmentality: changing conceptions of power in ... by Gunn, Simon / Journal of Social History
The fundamental sign is an abstract entity, which contains a potential for development.
Knowledge profiling: the basis for knowledge organization by Thellefsen, Torkild / Library Trends
Concrete objects like viruses can be members of an abstract entity, that is, an entity of a different logical type, although they cannot be a part of such an abstract concept.
Emerging issues in virus taxonomy by Mahy, Brian W.J. / Emerging Infectious Diseases
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