Absolute

See also Absolute

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

Latin absolūtus (“‘unconditional’”), perfect passive participle of absolvō (“‘loosen, free; complete’”). Compare French absolu. See absolve.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈæbsəˌluːt/, /ˌæbsəˈluːt/, SAMPA: /"{bs@%lu:t/, /%{bs@"lu:t/

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Adjective

Absolute (comparative more absolute or (rarely) absoluter, superlative most absolute or (rarely) absolutest)

Positive Absolute

Comparative more absolute or (rarely) absoluter

Superlative most absolute or (rarely) absolutest

1. Loosed from any limitation or condition; uncontrolled; unrestricted; unconditional; as, absolute authority, monarchy, sovereignty, an absolute promise or command.
   • 1962, Hannah Arendt, On Revolution, (1990), page 155

     [T]he more absolute the ruler, the more absolute the revolution will be which replaces him.

2. Complete in itself; perfect; consummate; faultless.

   absolute perfection

   absolute beauty

   • So absolute she seems, And in herself complete. —John Milton
3. Viewed apart from modifying influences or without comparison with other objects; actual; real; — opposed to relative and Template:Compar; as, 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.

4. Loosed from, or unconnected by, dependence on any other being; self-existent; self-sufficing.

   Note: In this sense God is called the Absolute by the theist. The term is also applied by the pantheist to the universe, or the total of all existence, as only capable of relations in its parts to each other and to the whole, and as dependent for its existence and its phenomena on its mutually depending forces and their laws.

5. Capable of being thought or conceived by itself alone; unconditioned; non-relative.

   Note: It is in dispute among philosophers whether the term, in this sense, is not applied to a mere logical fiction or abstraction, or whether the absolute, as thus defined, can be known, as a reality, by the human intellect.

   • To Cusa we can indeed articulately trace, word and thing, the recent philosophy of the absolute. —William Hamilton
6. (rare) Positive; clear; certain; not doubtful.
   • I am absolute ’t was very Cloten. —Shakespeare, Cymbeline, IV,ii
7. (rare) Authoritative; peremptory.
   • The peddler stopped, and tapped her on the head, With absolute forefinger, brown and ringed. —Elizabeth Barrett Browning
8. (chemistry) Pure; unmixed; as, absolute alcohol.
9. (grammar) Not immediately dependent on the other parts of the sentence in government; as, the case absolute. (See ablative absolute.)

Synonyms

• positive
• peremptory
• certain
• unconditional
• unlimited
• unrestricted
• unqualified
• arbitrary
• despotic
• autocratic
• ultimate

Derived terms

Terms derived from "absolute"

ablative absolute absolute curvature Template:Geometry absolute equation (astronomy) absolute magnitude absolute majority

absolute monarchy absolute music (music) absolute pitch absolute power absolute space Template:Physics

absolute terms Template:Algebra absolute temperature absolute value absolute zero

Translations

loosed from any limitation or condition

Bulgarian: безусловен bg(bg) Catalan: absolut ca(ca) m. Chinese: 绝对 (juéduì) Czech: absolutní cs(cs) Dutch: absoluut nl(nl) Estonian: vaba et(et)

Finnish: ehdoton fi(fi), rajoittamaton fi(fi), absoluuttinen fi(fi) Greek: απόλυτος el(el) (a'politos) m. Russian: абсолютный ru(ru) (absoljútnyj) Scottish Gaelic: ceannasach gd(gd) Swedish: absolut sv(sv)

complete in itself

Bulgarian: пълен bg(bg), абсолютен bg(bg) Catalan: absolut ca(ca) m. Czech: absolutní cs(cs) Estonian: täielik et(et)

Finnish: täydellinen fi(fi), absoluuttinen fi(fi) Russian: абсолютный ru(ru) (absoljútnyj), совершенный ru(ru) (soveršénnyj) Scottish Gaelic: iomlan gd(gd) Swedish: absolut sv(sv)

viewed apart from modifying influences or without comparison with other objects

Bulgarian: абсолютен bg(bg) Catalan: absolut ca(ca) m. Dutch: absoluut nl(nl) Finnish: absoluuttinen fi(fi)

Kurdish: Sorani: ڕه‌به‌ق ku(ku) (rrebeq) Russian: абсолютный ru(ru) (absoljútnyj) Swedish: absolut sv(sv)

loosed from, or unconnected by, dependence on any other being

Bulgarian: пълен, неограничен Catalan: absolut ca(ca) m. Dutch: absoluut nl(nl)

Finnish: absoluuttinen fi(fi), riippumaton fi(fi) Russian: абсолютный ru(ru) (absoljútnyj)

capable of being thought or conceived by itself alone

Bulgarian: абсолютен bg(bg) Catalan: absolut ca(ca) m. Czech: absolutní cs(cs)

Dutch: absoluut nl(nl) Finnish: absoluuttinen fi(fi) Russian: абсолютный ru(ru) (absoljútnyj)

rare: positive; clear

Czech: jistý cs(cs) Dutch: absoluut nl(nl)

Finnish: ehdottoman fi(fi) varma fi(fi) Scottish Gaelic: cinnteach gd(gd)

rare: authoritative; peremptory

Bulgarian: самовластен bg(bg)

chemistry: pure; unmixed

Bulgarian: чист, без примес bg(bg) Czech: čistý cs(cs) Dutch: absoluut nl(nl)

Finnish: absoluuttinen fi(fi), puhdas fi(fi) Russian: абсолютный ru(ru) (absoljútnyj) Scottish Gaelic: dearbh gd(gd)

grammar: not immediately dependent on the other parts of the sentence in government

Catalan: absolut ca(ca) m. Dutch: absoluut nl(nl)

Russian: абсолютный ru(ru) (absoljútnyj), обособленный ru(ru) (obosóblennyj) Scottish Gaelic: lethoireach gd(gd)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

French: absolu fr(fr) German: absolut de(de) Hebrew: מוחלט (mukhlat') m., מוחלטת (mukhlet'et) f. Ido: absoluta Indonesian: mutlak Interlingua: absolute Italian: assoluto it(it) Japanese: 絶対 (ぜったい, zettai)

Korean: 무제한의 (mujehan-ui) Norwegian: absolutt Novial: absoluti Portuguese: absoluto pt(pt) Spanish: absoluto es(es) Turkish: kesin tr(tr) Volapük: leverik

Noun

Singular Absolute

Plural {{{1}}}

Absolute ({{{1}}})

1. That which is independent of context-dependent interpretation, inviolate, fundamental.
   • moral absolutes
2. Template:Geometry In a plane, the two imaginary circular points at infinity; in space of three dimensions, the imaginary circle at infinity.

Translations

that which is independent of context-dependent interpretation

Finnish: absoluuttinen fi(fi)

Russian: абсолют ru(ru) (absol'út) m.

(geometry)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

French: absolu m.

Turkish: pozitif

References

• Absolute in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Anagrams

• abelostu,
• bales out

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Dutch

Adjective

absolute

1. Template:Nl-adj-inflected

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Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA: /apsoˈlute/

Adverb

Template:Eo-adv

1. absolutely

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Latin

Etymology

From absolūtus (“‘complete, finished’”).

Adverb

absolūtē (comparative absolūtius, superlative absolūtissimē)

1. absolutely, completely, fully

Related terms

• absolūtus

References

• “Absolute” in Charlton T. Lewis & Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879

ar:absolute be:absolute et:absolute el:absolute es:absolute fa:absolute fr:absolute gl:absolute io:absolute id:absolute it:absolute kn:absolute lo:absolute la:absolute lt:absolute hu:absolute ml:absolute nl:absolute ja:absolute pl:absolute pt:absolute ru:absolute simple:absolute fi:absolute sv:absolute ta:absolute te:absolute th:absolute chr:absolute tr:absolute uk:absolute vi:absolute vo:absolute zh:absolute