abstraction
/æbˈstrækʃn/ (bre, ipa) · /æbˈstrækʃn/ (ame, ipa) · /ab-ˈstrak-shən əb-/ (ame, mw)
abstraction — 名詞
- abstractionsingular
- abstractionsplural
1. the condition of being so focused on your own thoughts that you become unaware o
出神
沉浸思考而未注意周遭
the condition of being so focused on your own thoughts that you become unaware of people and events nearby
Omar stared at the rain on the window, lost in abstraction, and did not hear his name called.
Omar 望著窗上的雨水，陷入出神狀態，連自己的名字被喊都沒聽到。
collocation: lost in abstraction
Sophie nodded with an air of abstraction while her friend described the trip, but her mind was elsewhere.
Sophie 一邊聽朋友描述旅行，一邊心不在焉地點頭，但她的心思早已飄到別處。
pattern: with an air of abstraction
A moment of abstraction caused Theo to walk past his bus stop without noticing.
一陣出神讓 Theo 沒注意到自己已走過公車站。
The teacher noticed the abstraction on Dov's face and asked him to stay after class.
老師注意到 Dov 臉上心不在焉的表情，便要他在下課後留下來。
- preoccupation
less common, suggests worry rather than deep thinking
- reverie
more poetic and pleasant in tone
- absent-mindedness
focuses on the unawareness rather than the thinking itself
- alertness
the opposite state of being fully aware of your surroundings
- attentiveness
actively paying attention rather than lost in thought
文法句型
in abstraction
with an air of abstraction
用法筆記
Uncountable in this sense. Frequently appears in fixed phrases such as 'lost in abstraction' and 'with an air of abstraction.'
常見錯誤
2. a notion that has no physical form and cannot be seen or touched — words like 'f
抽象概念
僅存在於思想中的概念
a notion that has no physical form and cannot be seen or touched — words like 'freedom', 'beauty', or 'justice' belong to this category, because you cannot hold them in your hand the way you can hold a stone
William argued that 'democracy' is not just an abstraction but something people experience every day through voting.
William 主張「民主」不只是個抽象概念，而是人們透過投票每天在體驗的事。
Young children struggle with abstractions like 'honesty' because they think in terms of concrete actions.
年幼的孩子很難理解像「誠實」這樣的抽象概念，因為他們的思考建立在具體的行為上。
pattern: abstraction like [concept]
Alice prefers concrete facts to abstractions, which is why she chose engineering over philosophy.
Alice 喜歡具體的事實勝於抽象概念，這就是為什麼她選擇工程而非哲學。
The report reduced the complex issue of poverty to a cold abstraction, with no mention of real families.
那份報告把複雜的貧窮問題簡化成一個冰冷的抽象概念，完全沒有提及真實的家庭。
Shira's lecture showed that numbers are themselves a form of abstraction, standing in for real quantities.
Shira 的課堂指出，數字本身就是一種抽象概念，代表著實際的數量。
- concrete thing
a physical object you can see and touch
- reality
the actual world as opposed to theoretical ideas
文法句型
an abstraction
abstract noun like [concept]
用法筆記
Often used with a negative connotation when paired with words like 'cold', 'empty', or 'mere', implying something detached from reality. When countable, it refers to a specific concept; when uncountable, it refers to the general nature of abstract thinking.
常見錯誤
3. a way of making art that relies on colour, shape, and line instead of depicting
抽象藝術
不寫實的藝術風格
a way of making art that relies on colour, shape, and line instead of depicting recognizable people, places, or objects in a realistic way
The museum's new wing displays twentieth-century abstraction, including works by Kandinsky and Mondrian.
博物館的新展廳展示了二十世紀的抽象藝術，包括 Kandinsky 和 Mondrian 的作品。
domain: art history reference
Santi started his career painting portraits but gradually moved toward abstraction.
Santi 的職業生涯始於肖像畫，後來逐漸轉向抽象藝術。
pattern: move toward abstraction
Hannah finds abstraction more emotionally powerful than realistic painting because of its use of colour.
Hannah 認為抽象藝術比寫實繪畫在情感上更具感染力，因為它運用色彩的方式更自由。
Grace visited an abstraction workshop where participants used only their hands and paint to express emotion.
Grace 參加了一場抽象藝術工作坊，參加者僅用雙手和顏料來表達情感。
- abstract art
the full term; more precise
- non-representational art
formal, used in academic writing
- non-figurative art
more technical, contrasts with figurative art
- figurative art
art that represents real people and objects
- realism
art that aims to depict things as they actually look
文法句型
move toward abstraction
an exhibition of abstraction
用法筆記
Uncountable in this sense. Mentioning a specific artist or period (e.g. 'European abstraction', 'post-war abstraction') is common in art writing. Contrast with 'figurative art' (art that represents real things).
常見錯誤
4. pulling one part out of a larger group or system, or looking at a single quality
提取；分離
從整體中取出或分離出部分
pulling one part out of a larger group or system, or looking at a single quality of something while ignoring everything else connected to it
The abstraction of salt from seawater is a simple process that involves evaporation.
從海水中提取鹽是一個簡單的過程，利用蒸發即可完成。
pattern: abstraction of [X] from [Y]
Dov's research involves the abstraction of key themes from hundreds of historical documents.
Dov 的研究涉及從數百份歷史文件中提取關鍵主題。
In chemistry, the abstraction of a hydrogen atom from a molecule can trigger a chain reaction.
在化學中，從分子中提取一個氫原子可能引發連鎖反應。
Sophie used abstraction to separate the colour patterns from the underlying fabric design.
Sophie 透過分離程序，將顏色圖案與底層的布料設計區分開來。
- extraction
more concrete; usually refers to physical removal
- separation
broader; can mean keeping things apart rather than removing one
- isolation
implies studying something on its own
- combination
putting things together rather than taking them apart
- integration
merging parts into a whole
文法句型
abstraction of [something] from [something]
用法筆記
Common in academic and technical writing. The preposition 'from' almost always follows this sense. In formal logic and philosophy, 'abstraction' can refer to the mental act of isolating a property (e.g. redness) from the object that has it.
常見錯誤
5. a design principle in computer science where complex internal systems are hidden
抽象層
隱藏複雜細節僅呈現必要功能
a design principle in computer science where complex internal systems are hidden behind a simple interface, so that a user or programmer can work with the system without understanding every detail of how it works internally
Sanjay explained that a web browser provides a layer of abstraction between the user and the internet's complex protocols.
Sanjay 解釋說，網頁瀏覽器在使用者與網際網路的複雜協定之間提供了一層抽象層。
collocation: layer of abstraction
Without abstraction in operating systems, every programmer would need to know exactly how the hard drive stores data.
如果作業系統沒有抽象化，每個程式設計師都需要確切知道硬碟儲存資料的方式。
Alice designed an abstraction layer so that the app could run on both Android and iOS without separate code.
Alice 設計了一個抽象層，讓應用程式可以在 Android 和 iOS 上執行而不需要兩套程式碼。
Theo's textbook introduces abstraction as the foundation of object-oriented programming.
Theo 的教科書將抽象化介紹為物件導向程式設計的基礎。
Network abstraction lets an application send data without knowing whether it travels by cable or by radio signal.
網路抽象化讓應用程式可以發送資料，而不需要知道資料是透過電纜還是無線電訊號傳送的。
- encapsulation
more specific; means bundling data with the methods that operate on it
- modularity
related principle; dividing a system into separate modules
- hiding complexity
descriptive phrase rather than a single term
- implementation detail
the specific inner workings that abstraction hides
- low-level operation
working directly with hardware or basic instructions
文法句型
layer of abstraction
abstraction layer
用法筆記
Uncountable. Frequently appears in compound nouns: 'abstraction layer', 'data abstraction', 'network abstraction'. In software engineering, 'levels of abstraction' describe how close to (or far from) the hardware a programmer works.