Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AB'STRACT, n.

1. A summary, or epitome, containing the substance, a general view, or the principal heads of a treatise or writing. – Watts.
2. Formerly, an extract, or a smaller quantity, containing the essence of a larger. In the abstract, in a state of separation, as a subject considered in the abstract, i. e. without reference to particular persons or things.