Where does “abstract” come from?
Abstract comes from Latin abstractus, the past participle of abstrahere, meaning "to draw away," from ab- "away" and a root meaning "to draw or drag."
abstract (English): An abridgement or summary of a longer...
Definitions
- An abridgement or summary of a longer...
Ancestry of “abstract”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | abstract | Drawn away or out of; detached; abstract,... |
| 2 | Latin | abstractus | drawn away from, having been drawn away from;... |
| 3 | Latin | abstrahere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 4 | Latin | trahere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 5 | Latin | traho | I drag, pull; I trail; I extract, withdraw |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | traɣō | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | tregʰ- | to drag, pull?; to run, walk |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰregʰ- | to run |