* abs.

First attested around 1380. From Middle English _absolut_, from Middle French _absolut_, from Latin _absolūtus_ (“unconditional; unfettered; completed”), perfect passive participle of _absolvō_ (“loosen, set free, complete”), from Latin _ab_ (“away”) + _solvo_ (“to loose”). Influenced in part by Old French _absolu_. Compare _absolve_.

* (UK) IPA(key): /ˈæb.səˌluːt/, /ˈæb.səˌlʲut/ * (US) IPA(key): /ˈæb.səˌlut/ _(noun or adjective)_; IPA(key): /ˌæb.səˈlut/ _(noun only)_

ABSOLUTE (_comparative_ MORE ABSOLUTE _or_ ABSOLUTER, _superlative_ MOST ABSOLUTE _or_ ABSOLUTEST) * (obsolete) Absolved; free. [Attested from around 1350 to 1470 until the mid 17th century.] * (obsolete) Disengaged from accidental circumstances. [Attested from around 1350 until 1470.] * (archaic) Complete in itself; perfect. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.] * (Can we date this quote?) John Milton: So ABSOLUTE she seems, And in herself complete. * (grammar) Not immediately dependent on the other parts of the sentence; as[First attested around 1350 to 1470.] * (of a case form) syntactically connected to the rest of the sentence in an atypical manner; ablative absolute; nominative absolute; genitive absolute; accusative absolute. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.] * standing by itself in a loose syntactical connection, and qualifying the sentence as a whole rather than any single word in it. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.] Anyhow in 'anyhow, I made it home' is an ABSOLUTE. * (of an adjective or possessive pronoun) lacking a modified substantive. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.] Hungry in 'Feed the hungry.' * (comparative, superlative) expressing a relative term without a definite comparison.'[First attested around 1350 to 1470.] Older in 'An older person should be treated with respect. * (transitive) having no direct object. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.] Kill in 'If looks could kill...' * (Ireland, Wales) an inflected verb that is not preceded by any number of articles or compounded with a preverb. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.] * (obsolete) Absorbed in, as an occupation. [Attested only in the late 15th century.] * Unrestricted; in sole control; possessing absolute power; independent, as in ownership or authority. [First attested in the late 15th century.] * Pure; unmixed; as, _absolute_ alcohol. [First attested in the mid 16th century.] * (figuratively) Complete; utter; outright; unmitigated; entire; total; not qualified or diminished in any way; unrestricted; without limitation. [First attested in the late 16th century.] When caught, he told an ABSOLUTE lie. * Unconditional; free from any conditions, limitations, and relations; [First attested in the mid 16th century.] * having unlimited power, without limits set by a constitution, parliament, or other means. [First attested in the mid 16th century.] * proceeding from or characteristic of an absolute ruler. [First attested in the mid 16th century.] * 1962, Hannah Arendt, _On Revolution_, (1990), page 155: […] the more ABSOLUTE the ruler, the more ABSOLUTE the revolution will be which replaces him. * Absolutist; arbitrary; despotic. [First attested in the mid 16th century.] * Real; actual. [First attested in the early 17th century.] * (archaic) Certain; free from doubt or uncertainty, as a person or prediction. [First attested in the early 17th century.] * (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare, _Cymbeline_, Act 4, Scene 2: I am ABSOLUTE ’t was very Cloten. * Positive; unquestionable; peremptory. [First attested in the early 17th century.] * Free from conditional limitations; operating or existing in full under all circumstances without variation. [First attested in the early 17th century.] * (philosophy) Existing, able to be thought of, or able to be viewed without relation to other things. [First attested in the late 18th century.] _ABSOLUTE motion_ _ABSOLUTE time or space_ _ABSOLUTE rights and duties are such as pertain to man in a state of nature as contradistinguished from_ relative _rights and duties, or such as pertain to him in his social relations._ * (Can we date this quote?) William Hamilton: To Cusa we can indeed articulately trace, word and thing, the recent philosophy of _the absolute_. * Authoritative; peremptory. * (Can we date this quote?) Elizabeth Barrett Browning: The peddler stopped, and tapped her on the head, With _absolute_ forefinger, brown and ringed. * (philosophy) Fundamental; ultimate; intrinsic; free from the variability and error natural to the human way of thinking and perception. [First attested in the late 18th century.] * (physics) Independent of arbitrary units of measurement not

ABSOLUTE (_plural_ ABSOLUTES) * That which is independent of context-dependent interpretation, inviolate, fundamental. [First attested in the mid 19th century.] _moral ABSOLUTES_ * Anything that is absolute. [First attested in the mid 19th century.] * (geometry) In a plane, the two imaginary circular points at infinity; in space of three dimensions, the imaginary circle at infinity. * (philosophy, usually capitalized) A realm which exists without reference to anything else; that which can be imagined purely by itself; absolute ego. * 1983, Lawrence Durrell, _Sebastian_, Faber & Faber 2004 (_Avignon Quintet_), page 1039: Withdrawn as a Buddha he sat, watching the alien world from his perch in the ABSOLUTE. * (philosophy, usually capitalized) The unity of spirit and nature; God. * (philosophy, usually capitalized) The whole of reality; the totality to which everything is reduced. * Concentrated natural flower oil, used for perfumes. USAGE NOTES * (not dependent on anything else): Usually preceded by the word THE. * (all, philosophy): Usually preceded by the word THE TRANSLATIONS

* absolute in _Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary_, G. & C. Merriam, 1913 * ^ William Morris (editor), _The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language_ (1971 [1969]; American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.; ISBN 0-395-09066-0), page 5 * ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 Lesley Brown (editor), _The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary_, 5th edition (Oxford University Press, 2003 [1933], ISBN 978-0-19-860575-7), page 9

* ABSOLUTE on Wikipedia.en.Wikipedia * ABSOLUTE in the 1921 edition of Collier's Encyclopedia.

* bales out

ABSOLUTE * Inflected form of _absoluut_

* IPA(key): /absoˈlute/

ABSOLUTE * absolutely

ABSOLUTE * inflected form of _absolut_

From _absolūtus_ (“complete, finished”).

ABSOLŪTĒ (_comparative_ ABSOLŪTIUS, _superlative_ ABSOLŪTISSIMĒ) * absolutely, completely, fully RELATED TERMS * absolūtus

* “absolute” in Charlton T. Lewis & Charles Short, _A Latin Dictionary_, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879.

ABSOLUTE * absolute definite natural masculine form of absolut.