abstraction
/æbˈstɹæk.ʃn̩/noun
abstraction is spelled A-B-S-T-R-A-C-T-I-O-N: 11 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,589th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, abstraction means “The act of abstracting, separating, withdrawing, or taking away; withdrawal; the state of being taken away” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of abstraction is abstractions.
How many letters and syllables are in abstraction?
| Letters | 11: A-B-S-T-R-A-C-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.0 times per million words; the 19,589th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is abstraction?
Abstraction appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,589th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce abstraction?
- UK /əbˈstɹæk.ʃn̩/
- US /æbˈstɹæk.ʃn̩/
- US /əbˈstɹæk.ʃn̩/
Abstraction has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-abstraction.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with abstraction?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as abstraction from its last stressed vowel (/ækʃn/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of abstraction
- abstractions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does abstraction mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of abstracting, separating, withdrawing, or taking away; withdrawal; the state of being taken away.
- 2
The taking surreptitiously for one's own use part of the property of another; purloining.
- 3
Removal of water from a river, lake, or aquifer.
- 4
A separation from worldly objects; a recluse life; the withdrawal from one's senses.
a hermit’s abstraction
- 5
The act of focusing on one characteristic of an object rather than the object as a whole group of characteristics; the act of separating said qualities from the object or ideas.
Holonym: induction
- 6
Any characteristic of an individual object when that characteristic has been separated from the object and is contemplated alone as a quality having independent existence.
- 7
A member of an idealized subgroup when contemplated according to the abstracted quality which defines the subgroup.
- 8
The act of comparing commonality between distinct objects and organizing using those similarities; the act of generalizing characteristics; the product of said generalization.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Abstraction in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense act of abstracting:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | abstraction |
| German | Abstraktion |
| Portuguese | abstração |
| Spanish | abstracción |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does abstraction come from?
From Middle English abstraccyone; either from Middle French abstraction or from Medieval Latin abstrāctiō (“separation”), from Latin abstrahō (“draw away”). Equivalent to abstract + -ion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).