Both Uses of
abstract
in
All Quiet on the Western Front
- So I speak to him and say to him: "Comrade, I did not want to kill you." If you jumped in here again, I would not do it, if you would be sensible too. But you were only an idea to me before, an abstraction that lived in my mind and called forth its appropriate response.
p. 223.3 *abstraction = a concept not associated with any specific instance
- It was that abstraction I stabbed.
p. 223.4
Definitions:
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(1)
(abstract as in: abstract thought) of a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance
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(2)
(abstract as in: read the abstract) a summary; or to summarize -- especially academic writing
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(3)
(abstract as in: abstract art) not imitating external reality or the objects of nature
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(4)
(abstracted as in: abstracted, so didn't notice) lost in thought; or distracted by thoughts
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(5)
(abstracted as in: abstracted his wallet) removed