ab·so·lute
(ăb′sə-lo͞ot′, ăb′sə-lo͞ot′)adj.
1.
a. Unqualified in extent or degree; total: absolute silence.
b. Not limited by restrictions or exceptions: an absolute right.
c. Being fully such; utter: an absolute fool.
d. Unconstrained by constitutional or other provisions: an absolute ruler.
2. Not mixed; pure: absolute oxygen.
3. Not to be doubted or questioned; positive: absolute proof.
4. Grammar
a. Of, relating to, or being a word, phrase, or construction that is isolated syntactically from the rest of a sentence, as the referee having finally arrived in The referee having finally arrived, the game began.
b. Of, relating to, or being a transitive verb when its object is implied but not stated. For example, inspires in We have a teacher who inspires is an absolute verb.
c. Of, relating to, or being an adjective or pronoun that stands alone when the noun it modifies is being implied but not stated. For example, in Theirs were the best, theirs is an absolute pronoun and best is an absolute adjective.
5. Physics
a. Relating to measurements or units of measurement derived from fundamental units of length, mass, and time.
b. Relating to absolute temperature.
6. Law Complete and unconditional; final: an absolute divorce.
n.
1. Something that is absolute.
2. Absolute Philosophy
a. Something regarded as the ultimate and transcendent basis of all thought and being. Used with the.
b. Something regarded as exceeding or transcending everything else to the point of being independent and unrelated.
[Middle English absolut, from Latin absolūtus, unrestricted, past participle of absolvere, to absolve : ab-, away; see ab-1 + solvere, to loosen; see leu- in Indo-European roots.]
ab′so·lute′ness n.
Usage Note: An absolute term denotes a property that a thing either can or cannot have. Such terms include absolute itself, chief, complete, perfect, prime, unique, and mathematical terms such as equal and parallel. By strict logic, absolute terms cannot be compared, as by more and most, or used with an intensive modifier, such as very or so. Something either is complete or it isn't—it cannot be more complete than something else. Consequently, sentences such as He wanted to make his record collection more complete, and You can improve the sketch by making the lines more perpendicular, are often criticized as illogical. Such criticism confuses pure logic or a mathematical ideal with the rough approximations that are frequently needed in ordinary language. Certainly in some contexts we should use words strictly logically; otherwise teaching mathematics would be impossible. But we often think in terms of a scale or continuum rather than in clearly marked either/or categories. Thus, we may think of a statement as either logically true or false, but we also know that there are degrees of truthfulness and falsehood. Similarly, there may be degrees of completeness to a record collection, and some lines may be more perpendicular—that is, they may more nearly approximate mathematical perpendicularity—than other lines. See Usage Notes at equal, unique.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
absoluteness
(ˌæbsəˈluːtnəs)n
formal the quality of being absolute
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
| Noun | 1. | absoluteness - the quality of being complete or utter or extreme; "the starkness of his contrast between justice and fairness was open to many objections" |
| 2. |  absoluteness - the quality of being absolute; "the absoluteness of the pope's decree could not be challenged"unchangeability, unchangeableness, unchangingness, changelessness - the quality of being unchangeable; having a marked tendency to remain unchanged |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.