Dictionary

abstractedly en · ADV

Pronunciation

• /æbˈstɹæk.tɪd.li/ (US)
• (US) audio
• /əbˈstɹæk.tɪd.li/ (US)

Etymology

Etymology tree English abstracted Middle English -ly English -ly English abstractedly From abstracted + -ly.

Meanings

1. In an abstracted manner; separately; in the abstract.
   • Doubtlesse, in the Idaea, or mentall shape before it come as it were into act, by beeing painted, cut, or carued, those terminating, and truly Mathematical lines, abstractedly considered, are manifest, adhering (or inhering rather) without any possibility of separation from the conceaued Image. 1610, Edmund Bolton, chapter 15, in The Elements of Armories, London: George Eld, page 89:
   • Qu[estion] 8. VVhether the Notions of abſolute Time, abſolute Place, and abſolute Motion be not moſt abſtractedly Metaphyſical? VVhether it be poſſible for us to meaſure, compute, or knovv them? 1734, [George Berkeley], “Section L [Occasion of this Address. Conclusion. Queries.]”, in The Analyst; or, A Discourse Addressed to an Infidel Mathematician. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson […], →OCLC, page 77:
   • You remember the gentleman in “The Spectator,” who had a commission of lunacy taken out against him for his extreme singularity, such as never wearing a wig, but a night-cap. Now, Sir, abstractedly, the night-cap was best; but, relatively, the advantage was overbalanced by his making the boys run after him. 1791, James Boswell, quoting Samuel Johnson, “[1769]”, in James Boswell, editor, The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. […], volume I, London: […] Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, […], →OCLC, page 311:
   • […] as the head of a beast is to be placed only upon its shoulders, so neither is a plant, however abstractedly treated, to be placed root uppermost […] 1852, John Pollard Seddon, chapter 3, in Progress in Art and Architecture, London: David Bogue, page 38:
   • [I]t is abundant ſatisfaction to them if they ſee their children do vvell; their chief delight and contentment is in their childrens good abſolutely and abſtractedly, vvithout indirect regards to their ovvn advantage. a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “An Exposition of the Decalogue. Honour Thy Father, and Thy Mother.”, in A Brief Exposition of the Lord’s Prayer and the Decalogue. […], London: […] M[iles] Flesher, for Brabazon Aylmer, […], published 1681, →OCLC, page 164:
2. With absence of mind .
   • Leaning abstractedly over a hogshead of tallow, her dark dishevelled tresses waved in opposite directions, and a Muse (as she was) appeared to vulgar eyes, a Fury! 1806, Isaac D'Israeli, chapter 38, in Flim-Flams!, 2nd edition, volume 2, London: John Murray, page 219:
   • He rose from his knees, and walked slowly across to the mantelpiece, where he stood abstractedly fingering the ornaments, and straightening them—a trick of his when he was agitated. 1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 40:
   • In Montreal, George Stephen was also thinking about money while he walked in sober mood from the Bank to the Canadian Pacific offices; one of the best-known figures in the city […] his passage along St. James Street was noted by many, and he nodded abstractedly to innumerable acquaintances. 1935, Alan Sullivan, chapter 10, in The Great Divide, London: Lovat Dickson & Thompson:
   • She looked up over the page, ran her eye abstractedly across the room, but gave no sign at all of seeing him. 2011, Alan Hollinghurst, The Stranger’s Child, London: Picador, section 3, 3:
   • He is a man of the meditative claſs:—he walks the ſtreets abſtractedly:—as he goes he digeſts enterpriſes, fraught with world-wide benefits. 1860, Isaac Taylor, “Essay V. Epidemic Whims.”, in Ultimate Civilization and Other Essays, London: Bell and Daldy […], →OCLC, section I, page 257:
   • The farmer had never turned his head once, but with eyes fixed on the most advanced point along the road, passed as unconsciously and abstractedly as if Bathsheba and her charms were thin air. 1874, Thomas Hardy, chapter XII, in Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC:

Forms

Synonyms

absently (with absence of mind) · absent-mindedly (with absence of mind)

Translations (3)

pt abstraidamente (in an abstracted manner) · nl in theorie (in an abstracted manner) · nl in abstracto (in an abstracted manner)