absoluteadj.adv.n.
/ˈabsəluːt/, /ˌabsəˈluːt/, /ˈabsəljuːt/, /ˌabsəˈljuːt/, U.S. /ˈæbsəˌlut/ A. adj. (and adv.)
I. Free from dependency, autonomous; not relative.
1. Grammar.
a. Of a clause, construction, case, etc.: not syntactically dependent on another part of the sentence. Of a word: used without a (customary) syntactic dependant; spec. (a) (of a transitive verb) used without an expressed object; (b) (of an adjective or possessive pronoun) used alone without a modified noun.Originally with reference to the ablative case. ablative, dative, genitive, nominative absolute: see first element. See also absolute state n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > syntax or word order > syntactic relations > [adjective] > other specific relations
absolutec1400
rectc1400
included1837
exocentric1914
serial1933
c1400 in D. Thomson Middle Eng. Grammatical Texts (1984) 192 (MED) When we haf a reson witouten a verbe we sal sette it in þe ablatif case absolute.
a1450 (a1397) Prol. Old Test. in Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Cambr. Mm.2.15) (1850) xv. 57 An ablatif case absolute may be resoluid into these thre wordis, with couenable verbe: the while, for, if.
1520 R. Whittington Uulgaria sig. B.i Somtyme hit is put in the ablatyue case absolute.
1594 T. Blundeville Exercises i. xvi. f. 19 The absolute [numbers] are simply pronounced without hauing any relation to any other number, measure, or quantitie.
1612 J. Brinsley Posing of Parts f. 38 Q. What meane you by absolute? A. Without other gouernment.
1753 J. Buchanan Compl. Eng. Scholar iii. x. 535 This Verb is also called a Verb absolute, because the action is terminated in the same Person or Thing; as John laughs, Mary grieves, &c.
1795 L. Murray Eng. Gram. 115 The infinitive mood is often made absolute, or used independently of the rest of the sentence.
1821 M. Stuart Hebrew Gram. 287 By case absolute is meant, the case of a noun which stands in the beginning of a sentence, syntactically unconnected with any following predicate.
1884 N.E.D. (at cited word) The absolute case in English was formerly the Dative or Instrumental; it is now the Nominative.
1904 C. T. Onions Advanced Eng. Syntax §61b The Absolute construction seems in all periods to have been felt to be foreign to the genius of English.
1931 G. O. Curme Syntax 508 The absolute comparative is not as common as the absolute superlative..higher education; a better-class café.
1962 B. M. H. Strang Mod. Eng. Struct. v. 82 Linguistic structures may always be either..absolute or included.
1997 R. J. Schork Lat. & Rom. Culture in Joyce i. 20 A noun and participle..that are not syntactically linked to the rest of the sentence (hence ‘absolute’).
b. Of a word, form, or case: morphologically unmarked; uninflected.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > morphology > inflection > [adjective] > inflected > not
impersonalc1620
absolute1786
crude1805
aptotic1849
flexionless1860
inflectionless1878
1786 H. C. Albrecht Short Gram. German Tongue 60 Adjectives, that terminate in their absolute form..in the letter m, as arm, (poor) [etc.].
1803 W. O. Pughe Gram. Welsh Lang. ii. iv. 69 Adjectives are susceptible of certain degrees of comparison, by which their absolute form is modified.
a1856 W. Hamilton Lect. Metaphysics (1859) II. xxxvi. 330 The child commences..by employing only isolated words in place of phrases; he commences by taking verbs and nouns only in their absolute state.
1898 H. Sweet New Eng. Gram. I. 379 The ‘absolute form’ was afterwards extended to the 1st pers. sing. as well.
1959 A. Sperber Gram. Masoretic Hebrew 28 They belong together as the absolute and inflected forms of the identical noun or verb.
2004 G. D. Morley Explor. in Functional Syntax ii. iii. 49 Comparison..is achieved either by inflection (changing the form of the base or absolute form of the adjective, mainly by adding -er and -est) or by [etc.].
2.
a. Viewed without relation to or comparison with other things of the same kind; measured or considered only in relation to a fixed standard, or in relation to space or existence as a whole. Cf. superlative absolute n. at superlative n. 4a. Opposed to relative and comparative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > reality or real existence or actuality > [adjective]
present1340
actuala1398
absolutec1443
effectualc1475
bodilya1616
effective1620
deedy1781
real lifec1819
positive1831
factual1846
transactional1858
entitative1862
real world1963
c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 299 (MED) Þer may no man make a comparisoun bitwixe his worþines in godis and an oþer mannys worþines in godis, but if first and bifore he haue an absolute jugement, feeling, and knowing of his owne worþines in it silf.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica vi. vii. 306 There is no East and West in Nature; nor are those absolute and invariable, but respective and mutable points. View more context for this quotation
1666 R. Boyle in Philos. Trans. 1665–6 (Royal Soc.) 1 239 The Absolute or Comparative height of mountains.
1698 J. Norris Pract. Disc. Divine Subj. IV. 238 When..Faith is said..to be of Inevident things, the Meaning is not of an Absolute but of a Relative inevidence.
1753 S. Johnson Adventurer 27 Nov. (1754) II. 242 We find in it absolute misery but happiness only comparative.
1785 T. Reid Ess. Intellect. Powers 293 This space therefore which is unlimited and immoveable, is called by Philosophers absolute space.
1822 T. Webster Imison's Elem. Sci. & Art (new ed.) I. 447 Absolute motion is the actual motion that bodies have, independent of each other, and only with regard to the parts of space.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 68 It is not so much the absolute quantity of moisture in the air as its relative humidity.
1893 T. R. R. Stebbing Hist. Crustacea i. 7 Not because of the absolute, but because of the comparative softness of their shells.
1919 Nature 11 Dec. 374/2 The out-and-out relativist will not admit an absolute measure of acceleration any more than of velocity.
1967 Brit. Jrnl. Psychiatry 113 384/2 The therapist walks in a no man's land between absolute truth (if this is ever sighted) and the psychological truth (as the patient honestly believes it).
2001 R. W. Cahn Coming of Materials Sci. ii. 35 Two compounds had the same relative composition but different absolute numbers of atoms in each molecule.
b. Originally Logic and Philosophy. Of a term, or the concept to which it refers: not involving or implying relation; not dependent for meaning or significance on a relationship with another term or concept. Cf. relative adj. 5.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical classification > [adjective] > of logical judgements
conditional1532
simple1532
absolute1599
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > logical argument > [adjective] > using or not using comparison
simple1532
absolute1599
comparate1650
1599 T. Blundeville Art of Logike i. ii. 33 Absolute are those which may bee understood by themselves, without being applied to any other thing, as substance, quantity, qualitie.
1656 tr. T. Hobbes Elements Philos. i. ii. 17 Of Names, some are Absolute, others Relative... Those that signifie no Comparison at all are Absolute Names.
1675 W. Collins Missa Triumphans iv. 126 But to be distant is a relative, and not an absolute term; for when we conceive an absolute term, we conceive but one thing, as when we conceive a crow.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Man is an absolute Term; and, on the contrary, Creature and Father are Relatives, the one referring to the Creator, the other to Children.
1751 J. Harris Hermes i. iii. 27 If every thing not absolute, is of course relative; then will all Words be significant either absolutely or relatively.
1843 J. S. Mill Syst. Logic I. ii. §7. i. 53 The fifth leading division of names is into relative and absolute.
1888 Folk-lore Jrnl. 6 213 Wealth is a relative, not an absolute term.
1949 Times 10 Sept. 5/6 Hard currency is..a relative rather than an absolute term, reflecting as it does the relation between one currency and another.
2003 Canad. Public Policy 29 (Suppl.) 3 Equality is a relative, not an absolute concept and refers to the relative distribution of income or wealth.
c. Physics. Of space or time, or space-time: independent of any observer and any phenomena. Also of time: considered simply as duration, without reference to local reckoning of it.
ΚΠ
1687 I. Newton Principia 5 Tempus absolutum verum & Mathematicum... Spatium absolutum.]
1687 Philos. Trans. 1686–7 (Royal Soc.) 16 291 The first [book of Newton's Principia] begins with definitions of the Terms made use of, and distinguishes Time, Space, Place and Motion into absolute and relative, real and apparent, Mathematical and vulgar.
1704 J. Toland Lett. Serena 182 For my part, I can no more believe an absolute Space distinct from Matter, as the place of it; than that there is an absolute Time, different from the things whose Duration are consider'd.
1728 Philos. Trans. 1727–8 (Royal Soc.) 35 352 Supposing these..to be discharged only at 20 or 30 Miles high, they may be seen by different Observers at the same Moment of absolute Time, in very distant Places.
1823 R. Woodhouse Astron (ed. 2) xxxviii. 756 If the contact was observed at Greenwich at 3h 40m, and at a place 15° east of Greenwich, at 4h 41m, the difference in absolute time would be only 1m; since 1h, in the reckoned time, is entirely due to the difference of the meridians.
1863 Proc. Royal Soc. 13 85 The maximum of easterly deflection occurs at the same hour of absolute time at the two stations; and the maximum of westerly deflection at the same hour of local time at the two stations.
1897 B. Russell Ess. Found. Geom. ii. 93 Those who have done most to further non-Euclidean Geometry..have usually inherited from Newton a naïve realism as regards absolute space.
1919 Times 25 Nov. 8/2 From Newton's time to our own the persistent problem in physics has been to rationalize the notion of action at a distance, which the concept of absolute space and time and movement implies.
1955 W. Heisenberg in W. Pauli Niels Bohr & Devel. Physics 20 The non-existence of absolute space and absolute time is by no means proved by the special theory of relativity.
2004 B. Greene Fabric of Cosmos iii. 51 Absolute spacetime is as absolute for special relativity as absolute space and absolute time were for Newton.
d. Geology and Archaeology. Of time or chronology: expressed in calendrical years rather than in terms of geological or cultural periods, or relative to an event.
ΚΠ
1919 Geogr. Rev. 8 322 (heading) Relative and absolute length of the geological periods.
1938 Amer. Anthropologist 40 555 The early cultures of Ticoman-Cuicuilco and Copilco-Zacatenco are equally difficult to place in absolute time.
1946 F. E. Zeuner Dating Past v. 145 Combining the geological evidence with the astronomical time-scale by means of the radiation curves, an absolute chronology is obtained.
2006 D. H. Erwin Extinction ii. 20 Phillips first considered the relative durations of the different periods, but along with other geologists and physicists in the mid-1880s, he was soon caught up with trying to estimate how much time in years (what geologists call absolute time) was occupied by different periods.
3. Separate from or independent of all accidental or circumstantial elements; intrinsic, essential; fundamental.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > essence or intrinsic nature > [adjective] > that is such in the absolute or highest sense
essentialc1340
absolutec1454
formal1691
c1454 R. Pecock Folewer to Donet 178 (MED) What a þing is þe natural, absolut, and vttir goodnes of oure deede is not ȝit of ȝow seid.
1495 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) i. sig. Aiij/1 The fader, the sone, the holy ghost be thre persones by personall proprytees, but thabsolute propritees be comune to all thre persones.
1652 A. Burgess Spiritual Refining xvi. 85 The branch beareth fruit, not so much because it is in the vine, as because the vine is in it communicating juyce to it... This growth and fruitfulnesse is spoken of as an absolute property.
1682 R. Blome (title) Cosmography and Geography. In two parts: The first, containing the general and absolute part of cosmography... The second part, being a geographical description of all the world.
1684 Bp. Wilkins's Discov. New World (ed. 4) i. xiv. 162 The heaviness of a Body..is not any absolute Quality Intrinsical unto it.
1725 I. Watts Logick ii. iv. 370 Sometimes we have clear Ideas of the absolute Properties of an Object; and we may judge of them with Certainty.
1731 J. Sparrow Mech. Diss. Lues Vererea Ep. Ded. sig. A2 I have no view..but to demonstrate..the absolute Properties of such Medicines, as by long Experience have been found Successful.
1800 S. T. Coleridge Talleyrand to Ld. Grenville in Morning Post 10 Jan. 3/1 Perhaps it were better To proceed to the absolute point of my letter.
1860 R. J. Breckinridge Knowl. God ii. 180 Subjects..whose treatment has been very various, even by such as hardly differed perceivably concerning the absolute nature of the subjects themselves.
1895 K. Grahame Golden Age 89 The pure, absolute quality and nature of each note in itself are only appreciated by the strummer.
1943 J. S. La Farge Race Q. ii. 12 Were the supposed traits..fixed, clear, and universal, the matter of race relations would be comparatively simple. Knowledge would be based upon certain absolute elements.
1978 Times Lit. Suppl. 24 Mar. 342/5 They have consecrated a ready-made caricature of Woman which serves to reduce all women to an absolute type.
2000 D. Turner in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Compan. Christian Thought 460/1 ‘Mysticism’..is the common core of religiosity,..exhibiting the features of an absolute, non-culturally conditioned experience.
4.
a. Of authority: free from all external restraint or interference; unrestricted, unlimited.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > freedom of action or from restraint > [adjective] > free from conditions
purea1393
absolutec1475
unreserved1538
unconditioneda1631
unconditionable1642
unconditionate1642
inconditionate1654
respectlessa1660
unconditional1667
unconditionated1836
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 28 (MED) Crist..of his absolut power may al þing, and no þing is vnpossible to him.
1533 W. Tyndale Souper of Lorde 30 To dispute of God's almighty absolute power,..is great folly and no less presumption.
1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. N7v The church hath no absolute power..to elect their pastor.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 524 The Governours have absolute rule over their inferiours.
1695 Anct. Const. Eng. 19 As for the King..he hath not absolute unlimited power of doing whatever he will.
1698 N. Tate & N. Brady New Version Psalms of David (new ed.) 80 Possest of absolute Command, Thou Truth and Mercy dost maintain.
1753 J. Hanway Hist. Acct. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea III. xi. 67 These people [the Mascats]..are subject to an Iman, who has an absolute authority over them.
1835 I. Taylor Spiritual Despotism v. 220 They hastened to entrench themselves within the lines of absolute despotism.
1899 W. Besant Orange Girl ii. xx. 351 This man had for years exercised absolute sway over Rogueland.
1918 L. Strachey Eminent Victorians 86 The Catholic Church without the absolute dominion of the Pope might resemble the play of Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark.
1940 Common Sense Aug. 6/2 The absolute power of a Stalin or a Hitler is seen to be even worse.
1989 R. L. O'Connell Of Arms & Men iii. 38 He was the architect of..a political form remarkable for its persistence and steadfast in its reliance on absolute rule.
2005 Guardian (Nexis) 18 July 14 Sejanus did all the dirty work required to maintain absolute power, so that Tiberius himself could remain imperially aloof.
b. Of a ruler, government, etc.: having unlimited authority or power; not subject to any constitutional or external restraint; despotic. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > [adjective] > absolute
absolute1567
uncontrollable1593
arbitrary1642
1567 MSS Trin. Cambr. II. 187 Wether an absolute Prince..off Scotland for wicked lyfe and government may be deposed.
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion xi. 178 Nor could time euer bring In all the seauen-fold rule an absoluter King.
1651 T. Jenner Londons Blame 13 This State is now almost absolute Commander of all the Brittish Isles.
1775 T. Sheridan Lect. Art of Reading I. iv. 353 A due mixture of the three species of government, being partly monarchical, partly republican, and partly absolute.
a1779 W. Warburton Unpubl. Papers (1841) v. 449 False honour may thus tinsel over the gaudy slaves of an absolute master.
1836 N. Isaacs Trav. E. Afr. II. xvi. 296 When the monarch is firmly seated on his throne..he becomes an absolute king.
1881 Cent. Mag. Nov. 18/1 The..Vicegerent of God upon Earth, as the Sultan is styled, is an absolute despot.
1921 A. Huxley Crome Yellow 131 The young lady accepted him, and in less than a year had become the absolute mistress of Crome and her husband.
1943 A. Rand Fountainhead iv. xiv. 693 You, the little people, the absolute ruler to make all past rulers squirm with envy.
2005 New Republic 14 Feb. 35/2 It is the absurd, anachronistic, corny cult of an enlightened and egalitarian absolute leader.
5. † b. Of a trophy or prize: awarded outright so as to become the property of the winner, rather than held until competed for again. Obsolete.
a. Law. Of property, a title, etc.: owned or held outright, unconditionally, or with a guarantee by the state that no one has a better right to it; owned as an estate in fee simple. Of a person: owning property in this way.In modern British use, absolute title is a form of title which, when registered under the Land Registration Act (1925/2002) gives the registered person the strongest form of ownership of the registered freehold or leasehold interest.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > tenure of property > a legal holding > [adjective] > held in freehold
freeOE
absolute1576
unfeued1819
1576 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent 232 The Bishops were neuer absolute owners hereof, till the time of King William Rufus.
1591 J. Florio Second Frutes 83 You are..not onely Parson or tither, but absolute possessor of whatsoeuer I haue.
1641 Arguments Sir R. Hutton & Sir G. Croke ii. 61 The Law doth vest the absolute property of every mans goods in himselfe, and that they cannot be taken from him, but by his consent.
1666 Case Booksellers & Printers (single sheet) [He] hath (in all reason) as good right thereunto, as any Man hath to the Estate wherein he has the most absolute property.
1708 Rastell's Termes de la Ley (new ed.) at Property There are three manner of rights of Property; that is, Property absolute, Property qualified, and Property possessory.
1766 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. II. xxv. 396 Both the pledgor and pledgee have a qualified, but neither of them an absolute, property therein.
1848 J. Arnould Law Marine Insurance II. iii. ix. 1161 The assured, by mortgaging his ship, has parted with the power of conveying an absolute title.
1876 Littell's Living Age 130 155 The commune is legally and actually the absolute proprietor of the communal land.
1905 Accountant 4 Feb. 145/1 Whether the title is absolute or possessory..a short form of transfer has to be filled in and executed by the seller.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses iii. xvii. [Ithaca] 670 The messuage to become the absolute property of the tenant occupier.
1980 M. Shoard Theft of Countryside iii. x. 100 This system reflects the long tradition in English land law that possession of freehold does not confer absolute ownership of land.
2019 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 6 Apr. (Features section) 14 It is possible to register land where title deeds have been lost but it is not easy... You will only be granted ‘possessory title’ which is less than the normal ‘absolute’ title that the Land Registry give you.
ΚΠ
1861 Times 10 July 12/1 Lord Spencer offered an absolute prize cup worth 20l., to be competed for at 500 yards by the best shot of each of the three schools.
1868 Ipswich Jrnl. 22 Aug. 7/1 Each year Mr. G.C.E. Bacon has given an absolute prize of £5 with it [sc. the cup].
1886 Bristol Mercury 30 Apr. 6/1 Under the Grand Lodge by-laws the trophy becomes the absolute trophy of the district.
6. Not dependent on or affected by anything outside oneself; autonomous; self-sufficient.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > independence > [adjective]
unlamed1508
exempt1552
absolute1596
independent1612
untutored1641
undepending1649
1596 Bp. W. Barlow tr. L. Lavater Three Christian Serm. i. 22 Faries or Spirites..haue no absolute nor selfe sufficient power to hurt.
1630 W. Prynne Anti-Arminianisme 115 It makes man an absolute, an independent creature.
1666 R. Boyle Origine Formes & Qualities 42 It seems evident, that they [sc. colours, odours, etc.] have an absolute Being irrelative to Us.
1694 R. South 12 Serm. II. 129 Man treats God, as if he had indeed no need of Him, and behaves himself, as if he stood upon his own bottom, Absolute and Self-sufficient.
1795 T. Pownall Intellect. Physicks x. 144 When the expression moral freedom is here used, it means not such an absolute, independent, self existent, principle of motion as can exist in the First self-existent Cause only.
1863 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 13 468 The highest conceivable unity is..a self-sufficient or ‘Absolute’ self-conscious being.
1936 Jrnl. Relig. 16 161 God, if defined as wholly self-sufficient, absolute, and independent, would be..excluded by the social theory.
1953 Jrnl. Aesthetics & Art Crit. 12 347 Another kind of God, one not self-sufficient or absolute, but..requiring the existence of other beings.
1988 J. D. Barrow & F. J. Tipler Anthropic Cosmol. Princ. (rev. ed.) ii. 35 Microphenomena that they believed to be independent of the observer and absolute in character.
7. Law. Of a decree, rule, or order: taking effect immediately, fully, and unconditionally, and not liable to subsequent challenge or rescindment. Now chiefly used in relation to divorce proceedings. Frequently as postmodifier, esp. in decree absolute. Cf. nisi adj.In British law a decree absolute of divorce, permitting either party to remarry, may be obtained a stipulated period (since 1984 set at six weeks) after the issue of a decree nisi, if no proceedings have been commenced to appeal against it.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > judging > [noun] > judgement or decision of court > final judgement or decision
determiner1450
decree absolute1726
1623 T. Powell Attourneys Acad. 55 His Lordship will giue order vnder his hand, for an absolute Decree to be drawn vp.
1726 Compl. Clerk in Court 178 A Day is usually given the Defendant to shew Cause against it, when, if his Cause be not allowed, the Court confirms and makes the Decree absolute.
1785 R. Hinde Mod. Pract. Chancery 435 A decree nisi, against an infant partakes so far of the nature of an absolute decree, as to authorise proceedings under it, as in ordinary cases.
1836 B. H. Smart Walker Remodelled at Nisi prius A rule nisi is a rule unless, i.e. unless cause be shown to the contrary, as distinguished from a rule absolute.
1864 G. Browne Treat. Princ. & Pract. Court for Divorce & Matrimonial Causes 152 At any time before a decree for dissolution of marriage is made absolute, it is competent for one of the public to intervene.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses iii. xvi. [Eumaeus] 608 Then the decree nisi and the King's Proctor to show cause why and, he failing to quash it, nisi was made absolute.
1956 C. P. Snow Homecoming iv. xliii. 292 The delay between the suit being filed and the hearing: the time-lag before the decree absolute.
1996 Church Times 9 Feb. 10/2 Six weeks later, the decree is made absolute after a five-minute interview with a district judge about the custody of the children.
II. Complete, perfect.† 9. Pure and simple, mere; in the strictest sense. Obsolete.† 10. Of a set of parts, components, etc.: complete, with nothing omitted. Obsolete. rare.
8. † a. Free from imperfection or deficiency; perfect, consummate. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > perfection > [adjective] > perfect
finea1300
perfecta1398
crownedc1405
absolute?a1425
obsolute1522
quintessential1551
absolentc1560
fashionate1593
omniperfect1678
quadriform1679
exemplary1709
perfick1771
puffick1858
twenty-twenty1875
copybook1908
perfecto1941
?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. iii. pr. x. 31 Nat..of thinges amenused and inparfit, but..of thinges that ben alle hole and absolut [L. absolutis].
1550 H. Bullinger in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1721) II. 407 The most wise and absolute counsils.
1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 47v A young man so absolute as that nothing may be added to his further perfection.
1602 R. Carew Surv. Cornwall i. f. 62v Captaine Hender, the absolutest man of war for precise obseruing martiall rules.
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 207 Where mariners be English: who are the absolutest vnder heauen in their profession.
1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. xxvi. sig. N3 It is not to any man giuen, absolutely to be absolute.
1643 W. Prynne Soveraigne Power Parl. Ded. sig. A2v One person of the exquisitest judgement,..deepest Policy, absolutest abilities.
1705 G. Stanhope Paraphr. Epist. & Gospels I. 49 The most absolute and perfect of all examples.
1862 H. Spencer First Princ. i. ii. §12. 38 The first cause must be in every sense perfect, complete, total: including within itself all power, and transcending all law. Or to use the established word, it must be absolute.
1875 J. Ruskin Lect. Art (ed. 2) iii. 69 Two great masters of the absolute art of language, Virgil and Pope.
b. Complete or entire in degree; in the fullest sense. Frequently used for emphasis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > [adjective]
fulleOE
plenara1325
perfectc1350
completec1380
heala1399
plenary?a1425
absolute1531
explete1534
well-accomplished1568
quit1583
orbeda1657
orbicular1673
saturate1682
rounded1746
broad-blown1855
plene1867
choate1878
ten tenth1948
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > utter or absolute
shirea1225
purec1300
properc1380
plainc1395
cleana1400
fine?a1400
entirec1400
veryc1400
starka1425
utterc1430
utterlyc1440
merec1443
absolute1531
outright1532
cleara1535
bloodyc1540
unproachable1544
flat1553
downright1577
sheer1583
right-down?1586
single1590
peremptory1601
perfecta1616
downa1625
implicit1625
every way1628
blank1637
out-and-outa1642
errant1644
inaccessional1651
thorough-paced1651
even down1654
dead1660
double-dyed1667
through stitch1681
through-stitched1682
total1702
thoroughgoing1719
thorough-sped1730
regular1740
plumb1748
hollow1751
unextenuated1765
unmitigated1783
stick, stock, stone dead1796
positive1802
rank1809
heart-whole1823
skire1825
solid1830
fair1835
teetotal1840
bodacious1845
raw1856
literal1857
resounding1873
roaring1884
all out1893
fucking1893
pink1896
twenty-four carat1900
grand slam1915
stone1928
diabolical1933
fricking1937
righteous1940
fecking1952
raving1954
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour i. xi. sig. Fiv Wherin is ioyned..absolute vertue with pleasure incredible.
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique iii. sig. cc2 The chiefe perfection and the absolute fulfillyng of the Lawe, standeth in the love which manne oweth first to God.
1574 A. Golding tr. A. Marlorat Catholike Expos. Reuelation 40 From whence should we fetch the rule of absolute perfection.
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. i. 3 These holes were not absolute perforations, but onley dimples.
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. v. 897 Could civil sovereigns..destroy conscience and religion in the minds of men (which yet is an Absolute Impossibility).
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xi. iv. 117 He hath rusticated himself so long, that he is become an absolute wild Irishman. View more context for this quotation
1792 J. Almon Anecd. Life W. Pitt (octavo ed.) III. xliii. 154 The absolute necessity for making peace with America.
1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility I. vii. 78 His appearance..was not unpleasing, in spite of his being in the opinion of Marianne and Margaret an absolute old bachelor. View more context for this quotation
1860 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters V. 160 We can hardly arrive at a more absolute type of impurity.
1878 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighb. xviii. 356 And here the odd creature laughed, leaving me in absolute ignorance of how to interpret her.
1935 Discovery Oct. 309/1 In film studios the necessity for absolute silence demands an air-tight enclosure.
1997 Independent 19 Sept. 20/5 She is in absolute denial about what it means to be a working mother.
2005 Pilot Oct. 44/4 (caption) It's fast, comfortable, versatile and an absolute delight to fly.
c. In contemptuous and depreciative use: utter, unmitigated; complete.
ΚΠ
?1550 J. Bale Apol. agaynste Papyst 61 O absolute ass-heade..and wytlesse ydyote.
1569 E. Fenton tr. P. Boaistuau Certaine Secrete Wonders Nature sig. D2 These masked pilgrims, or rather absolute hypocrites, studying nothing but the philosophie of Sathan.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Sot en bosse et platte peinture, a foole in print, asse in graine, compleat coxcombe, absolute hoydon.
a1681 J. Lacy Sr. Hercules Buffoon (1684) iii. ii. 25 What an absolute Fool is this!
1700 W. Congreve Way of World iv. i. 62 How you stink of Wine!..you're an absolute Borachio.
1753 E. Moore in World No. 41. ⁋7 As to shuffling, fuzzing, changing of seats..he was an absolute ideot.
1811 W. Dimond Gustavus Vasa ii. iii. 39 The fellow is such an absolute fool that thou may'st treat him as he deserves freely.
1847 L. Hunt Men, Women, & Bks. II. i. 8 The absolutest, and sometimes loathsomest, trash.
1935 ‘N. Blake’ Question of Proof viii. 156 He's not a bad sort of beezer at all, if he wasn't such an absolute ass.
1949 A. Christie Crooked House xvi. 126 This house is the absolute limit!.. I don't see why I should have to be burdened with such peculiar parents.
1965 New Statesman 19 Mar. 426/2 These reports, so far from being accurate, have been described by one member of the shadow cabinet as ‘absolute poppycock’.
2000 F. Bleasdale Rubber Gloves or Jimmy Choos xviii. 317 My friends were looking at me oddly. Perhaps it was because I was talking absolute bollocks.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > state or quality of being simple, unmixed, or uncompounded > [adjective] > without addition or qualification > bare or mere
mereeOE
nakedOE
barec1200
purec1325
singlec1421
very1548
nude1551
absolute?1570
blank1596
female1602
clear1606
?1570 Homelie against Disobedience ii. sig. Ciiiiv David was no common or absolute subiect.
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) i. vi. 118 Duration without a thing that dureth..is the veriest, the absolutest Nothing that can be.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > [adjective] > in number or extent
fulleOE
plainc1330
halea1400
absolute1610
1610 E. Bolton Elements of Armories iii. 10 I see not why wee should not thinke them [sc. arms] absolute in all their numbers.
1623 J. Heming & H. Condell Pref. Shakespeare All the rest, absolute in their numbers, as he conceiued them.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost viii. 421 And through all numbers absolute, though One. View more context for this quotation
11. Chemistry. Having no admixture of any other substance; undiluted, pure. Earliest in absolute alcohol n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > state or quality of being simple, unmixed, or uncompounded > [adjective] > unadulterated or undiluted
clean883
purea1393
uncorrumpeda1400
uncorrupted1541
sincere1557
stark naked?1594
undelayed1600
unsophisticated1630
entire1640
inadulterate1648
dephlegmated1651
neat1651
unalloyeda1672
intaminateda1695
undrossy1708
net1713
unadulterate1716
unsophistical1736
uncauponateda1752
undiluted1756
absolute1810
undefecated1812
unadulterated1823
undilute1876
undoctored1882
uncut1967
1807 T. Thomson Syst. Chem. (ed. 3) II. ii. iv. 378 It was Lourtz..who first hit upon a method of obtaining alcohol in a state of absolute purity.]
1810 T. Thomson Syst. Chem. (ed. 4) II. ii. iv. 438 The absolute alcohol of Richter doubtless contains a portion of water.
1870 Nature 10 Feb. 383/1 The..mineral..was digested with an excess of pure hydrogen fluoride, containing some 32 per cent. of absolute acid, for two hours.
1876 Chem. News 4 Feb. 53/2 Their attempts to pass from a nearly anhydrous to really absolute allyl alcohol.
1933 S. W. Cole Pract. Physiol. Chem. (ed. 9) i. 22 Decant the soda and wash the paper first with absolute alcohol.
1969 Jrnl. Pediatrics 74 933/1 All solvents except absolute ethanol were redistilled.
1989 Sci. Amer. May 102/3 You will also need some absolute (100 percent) methanol.
2001 Orthopedics 24 45 Direct injection with absolute ethyl alcohol was performed in 12 patients.
III. Detached, disengaged.† 13. Disengaged from outside interruptions, concerns, etc.; wholly absorbed in something. Obsolete. rare.
12. Free or disengaged from something; unrestricted. Now rare (archaic in later use).In early use, occasionally as past participle corresponding to absolve v.
ΚΠ
?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. v. pr. iv. 61 Thanne trowe I that thilke selve fredom of wil schal duellen al hool and absolut [L. absoluta] and unbounden.
c1450 ( J. Walton tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Linc. Cathedral 103) 175 (MED) Complet and absolute [L. absolutis] Fro all defaut and diminucioun.
a1525 J. Irland Of Penance & Confession in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1923) I. 30 And [= if] he was befor verraly absolute fra that syn.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer ii. f. cccxxxixv We accorden that suche passions of desyre shul nat be nempned, but holden for absolute from al other lyuenges & prouynges.
c1635 H. Glapthorne Lady Mother (1959) ii. i. 43 I do beleive thee chast As the straight palme, As absolute from spots as the immaculate Ermine.
1643 P. Hunton Treat. Monarchie ii. i. 37 Succession doth not prove a Monarchie absolute from limitation.
1886 ‘M. Field’ Brutus Ultor v. iii. 67 My spirit, forced to wait On the slow lips of deity, hath need Of leisure absolute from base affairs Of place, of honour, and of precedence.
1997 H. L. Bond tr. Nicholas of Cusa On Vision God in Sel. Spiritual Writings 237 Suppose I examine abstract sight, which in my mind I have made absolute from all association with eyes and organs.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > attention > earnest attention, concentration > [adjective] > absorbed, engrossed
absolute1483
rapta1500
wrapped1548
full1578
bewrapped1589
immerse1626
wholehearted1644
undistracted1659
absorpt1697
wrapped (up) in1711
deep1735
absorbed1763
undiverted1798
unindifferent1813
whole-souled1821
absorbing1825
wrapped1884
hung-up on1966
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende f. clxxxxvij/1 [She] abode there as recluse..absolute in wakyng in prayers in fastynges and orysons.
IV. Free from conditions or mental reservations.
14. Of a person or thing: free from all doubt or uncertainty; positive, decided, determined. Also as adv.: positively, unconditionally. Now archaic and rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > [adjective]
sickerc1100
bolda1300
surec1330
trist1340
certain1362
traista1400
tresta1400
ensurec1430
suredc1450
absolute1483
firm1483
resolute1501
assured1523
satisfied1533
unperplexed1558
unblanked1570
resolved1577
secure1578
clear1604
constant1611
ungravelled1611
confidenta1616
definitea1616
fearless1634
decretory1651
positive1658
unbrangled1671
cocksure1672
convinced1685
reliant1702
unbewildereda1807
positivistic1893
hensure1929
tooting1932
1483 tr. Adam of Eynsham Reuelation xix Who so absolute may be seyde that contynewyth hys synne to hys dethe, as he that contynewyth yn dedly synne and so lesyth lyfe and takyth dethe.
a1525 (a1500) Sc. Troy Bk. (Douce) l. 596 in C. Horstmann Barbour's Legendensammlung (1882) II. 245 Pryame not fenʒheandly, But absolute ande lelely … swore the pees.
1604 S. Rowlands Looke to It sig. B3v Thou that wilt vow most absolute to know, That which thy conscience knowes thou neuer knew.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iv. ii. 107 I am absolute 'Twas very Cloten. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iii. i. 5 Be absolute for death. View more context for this quotation
1662 R. Mathews Unlearned Alchymist (new ed.) §92. 160 He would warrant my recovery..he commended it as one of the most absolute things in the World.
1714 A. Stringer Experienc'd Huntsman 148 I do not pretend to be Absolute, or propose my Opinion as Infallible.
1868 R. Browning Ring & Bk. I. 228 Who can be absolute for either side? A middle course is happily open yet.
1878 W. C. Smith Hilda among Broken Gods 232 I have been Foolish and fretful, selfish, useless; only I loved so absolute—that is my excuse.
1987 P. McGinley Red Men (1988) 259 Perhaps she didn't realise that you were absolute for lechery.
15.
a. Free from conditional limitation; unconditional, unreserved, unqualified.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > assured fact, certainty > [adjective] > defined, well-formed > of statement or speaker
utter1472
absolute?1504
peremptory1532
perfect1569
resolved1577
confident1611
categoricala1620
definitive1624
textuary1632
categorematical1654
categoric1678
?1504 W. Atkinson tr. Thomas à Kempis Ful Treat. Imytacyon Cryste (Pynson) ii. sig. D. iv But cryste that is the swete firmament euer in one abydinge may nat of eny wyse breke hys absolute promys.
1577 H. Bull tr. M. Luther Comm. 15 Psalmes (new ed.) 278 There is no absolute promise, but that which perteineth vnto Christ.
1648 King Charles I in J. O. Halliwell Lett. Kings Eng. (1846) II. 459 I once more declare to all my loving subjects..that my thoughts were sincere and absolute, without any sinister ends.
1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity 89 That it is not an Absolute, Inconditionate Promise to the Whole is plain.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. ii. vii. 261 Some of these Promises are conditional, others are as absolute, as any thing can be expressed.
1761 J. Hawkesworth Almoran & Hamet II. xviii. 130 The command which I received..was absolute, that no foot should enter.
1836 G. S. Faber Primitive Doctr. Election ii. ix. 387 Election, whether absolute and unconditional, or previsional and conditional, is equally..an Election of certain individuals, directly and immediately, to eternal life.
a1859 J. Austin Lect. Jurispr. (1863) II. xii. 5 Where an obligation is absolute, there is no right with which it correlates.
1912 B. Russell Probl. Philos. xiii. 212 There might be two kinds of self-evidence, one giving an absolute guarantee of truth, the other only a partial guarantee.
1948 P. Mairet tr. J.-P. Sartre Existentialism & Humanism 47 At the very heart..of existentialism, is the absolute character of the free commitment, by which every man realises himself.
1959 Guardian 15 Oct. 10/7 He would expect absolute obedience from his subordinates.
2000 Church Times 26 May 10/4 A cleric haranguing a class of girls was in no doubt that their absolute duty to Allah was to veil.
b. Logic. Of a proposition, etc.: not dependent or conditional on any other proposition, etc.; axiomatic.
ΚΠ
1588 A. Fraunce Lawiers Logike ii. v. f. 93 In absolute copulative and discretive axiomes, there is no ὑπόθεσις, no condition at all.
1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. IV iv. Proem. 7 The affections of propositions are either absolute or relate: absolute affections are quantitie and qualitie.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. i. vi. 104 The Question..is not absolute,..but hypothetical.
1748 W. Duncan Elements Logick ii. iv. 169 Absolute propositions are those, wherein we affirm some Property inseparable from the Idea of the Subject.
1853 M. Müller in W. Thomson Outl. Laws of Thought (ed. 3) 389 It would be impossible to frame an absolute proposition..from which the deductions could be established.
1870 F. C. Bowen Logic v. 127 In respect to the Relation of the Predicate to the Subject, Judgments are divided into simple or absolute, and conditional.
1937 Proc. Amer. Acad. Jewish Res. 8 39 We do not call this proposition possible but absolute or actual.
2001 R. R. Hausser Found. Computational Linguistics (ed. 2) iv. xxiv. 493 All humans are mortal is an absolute proposition.
B. n.
1. Originally Logic and Philosophy. A term or concept which is not dependent for meaning or significance on a relationship with another term or concept. Cf. sense A. 2b, relative n. 2b.rare in the 18th and 19th centuries.
ΚΠ
1599 T. Blundeville Art of Logike i. xi. 35 (table) Substance, Quantitie, Qualitie..and such like absolutes.
1646 T. Blount tr. H. Estienne Art of making Devises xvii. 53 Nor must we make use of those kind of terms which Logicians call Abstracts and Absolutes, vertue, vice, envy, mercy, nature, knowledge, felicity, art, and such like substantives.
1701 J. Norris Ess. Ideal World I. vi. 328 We are to consider that Relations..do not really differ from their Absolutes, but have only a distinction of Reason with a Foundation for it in the thing.
1855 C. F. Howard Olympus xxi. 296 Passion, thought, air, fire, wind, are absolutes; virtue, vice, good, evil, merit or demerit, are relatives.
1918 R. W. Sellars Next Step in Relig. vii. 94 To speak of him as ideally perfect and sinless is absurd just because these terms are absolutes where relatives alone have meaning.
2005 Romanic Rev. (Nexis) 96 67 Orza and poggia ceased to be absolutes referring to port and starboard, respectively, and became relatives.
2. Grammar. An absolute word, clause, or construction. Cf. sense A. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > syntax or word order > syntactic unit or constituent > [noun] > other specific syntactic constituents
terminant1589
absolute1709
adjectival1866
word group1871
nexus1924
immediate constituent1933
case marker1941
syndeton1954
group1959
placeholder1964
1709 L. Casotti New Method Teaching Ital. Tongue vi. 47 Those Verbs that they call Neuter, are properly Absolutes.
1776 J. Richardson Gram. Arabick Lang. iii. i. 63 The second and fourth from absolutes form transitives.
1842 L. Schwabe Englishman's First German Bk. i. iii. 32 When these pronouns are used as absolutes.
1884 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 1883–4 21 403 The a in which the frequentatives end is changed into o, and then the absolute is formed in on, and the passive in ax.
1940 M. Bryant Psychol. of Eng. iii. 23 Occasionally two or more absolutes are joined together, as, for example, Yes, I think so too, or Oh, how pretty it is! where we have the combination of a nonsentence and a sentence.
1997 Nat. Lang. & Ling. Theory 15 73 Participial absolutes like La maison repeinte, les enfants voulurent emménager immédiatement ‘the house repainted;..the children wanted to move in immediately’.
3. Metaphysics and Philosophy. Frequently with capital initial.
a. With the. That which exists without relation to or dependency on any other being; that which is capable of being thought or conceived of by itself alone.Frequently used with reference to a supreme being or to an objective and universal reality underlying the objects of perception (cf. absolutism n. 4).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > metaphysics > ontology > [noun] > being or entity > that is unconditioned
absolute1818
inconditionate1852
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > metaphysics > ontology > [noun] > being or entity > both subjective and objective
absolute1818
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > metaphysics > ontology > [noun] > being or entity > that exists by itself
substance1340
subject1387
ens reale1565
individual1582
suppositum1593
supposite1612
substantiala1631
secondary substance1774
absolute1858
1818 S. T. Coleridge Friend (ed. 3) III. 262 The absolute is neither singly that which affirms, nor that which is affirmed; but the identity and living copula of both.
1858 H. L. Mansel Bampton Lect. (ed. 4) ii. 30 By the Absolute is meant that which exists in and by itself, having no necessary relation to any other being.
1875 H. E. Manning Internal Mission of Holy Ghost xii. 325 There has sprung up..a school of men who tell us that the Absolute is unknowable, and that we can therefore know nothing of God.
1892 Philos. Rev. 1 546 Other views..are far concreter and in closer interaction with the sciences than a metempiric misconception like the Absolute.
1931 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 43 513 No proof can be given of the absolute, for that would bring it into the realm of what is dependent.
1962 Philos. & Phenomenol. Res. 22 432 The ‘onto-theological’ systems of post-Platonic Western philosophy..have objectified the Absolute and placed it outside human individuality.
2003 German Q. 76 453/1 The Absolute is the one substance with objective and subjective aspects.
b. As a count noun.
ΚΠ
1836 O. A. Brownson New Views Christianity x. 110 A being that is sufficient for itself, that has the grounds of its existence within itself, must be absolute, almighty. There are then two absolutes, two almighties; but this is an absurdity.
1862 H. Spencer First Princ. i. iv. & § 24. 81 An Absolute which existed not alone but along with other Absolutes, would no longer be an absolute but a relative.
1905 W. James in Jrnl. Philos. 2 Mar. 115 It gets rid of any need for an Absolute of the Bradleyan type.
1990 Orientations Apr. 49/3 Buddhahood is a timeless absolute and buddha figures can appear endlessly.
2001 D. P. Haney Challenge of Coleridge iii. 76 God is an absolute who willed, as Logos, a redemptive process of particular creation; he does not emerge from that creation.
4. A thing which is (held to be) true or valid for all times, places, and circumstances; a universal, unchanging value.
ΚΠ
1842 Oracle of Reason 1 198/2 Can Mr. M[ackintosh] show us any absolutes? Are not all things and conditions relative? He himself contends that there is no absolute good and evil in the universe, at the very moment that he talks of a fixed (or absolute) moral standard of goodness!
1899 Mind 8 530 In like manner one might throw doubt on the possibility of absolute truth (something whose truth is independent of the point of view from which it is regarded), or absolute beauty, or any other kind of absolute.
1942 D. D. Runes Dict. Philos. (ed. 2) 2/2 Moral and axiological values, norms, principles, maxims, laws are considered absolutes when [they are] universally valid objects of acknowledgement, whether conditionally or unconditionally.
1976 M. Hunter Talent Is not Enough 24 Right and wrong, good and evil, are no longer absolutes.
2003 J. Haldane Intelligent Person's Guide to Relig. v. 142 Their denial that there are universal moral absolutes by which the attacks may be judged and condemned.
5. An essential oil in its purest state, used as a base ingredient in perfumery. Cf. concrete adj. and n. Additions.
ΚΠ
1912 A. von Isakovics in A. Rogers Industr. Chem. 598 Flower concretes and 'Absolutes'.
1972 Bottlers' Year Bk. 1972–3 281 Absolutes, aromatic or flavouring materials in a pure state.
1992 J. Lawless Encycl. Essent. Oils ii. 140/1 The concrete is used primarily in soaps; the absolute is the most versatile and is used in all perfume types... The absolute and resinoids, which have a poor solubility, are used in soaps, hair preparations, industrial perfumes and low cost products.
2008 North Shore News (Brit. Columbia) (Nexis) 4 Jan. June 19 The scent I like best..has a blend of rose absolute, sandalwood oil and jasmine.
6. An unconditional requirement.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > necessity > condition of being necessary > need or want > [noun] > that which is needed or required
want1579
exigency1612
desiderate1640
desideratuma1651
requirement1662
desideration1836
absolute1966
1966 J. M. Gutman Colonial Venture vii. 177 He drew up a list of absolutes, rules by which he required his men to behave.
1986 K. Juby In Other Words—David Bowie iii. 54/2 I was given a list of 12 absolutes that if the promoter could not provide, I was to cancel the gig on the spot.
2006 Philippine Daily Inquirer (Nexis) 12 Mar. For you, what are the absolutes for comedy to work?
Compounds
C1. Designating electrical units of measurement which are absolute units, as absolute ampere, absolute ohm, absolute volt, etc. Cf. absolute unit n. at Compounds 2 and ab- comb. form . Now rare.
ΚΠ
1887 Nature 22 Sept. 498/1 The following series of resolutions..had been agreed to..(1) to adopt for a term of ten years the legal ohm of the Paris Congress as a legalized standard sufficiently near to the absolute ohm for commercial purposes.
1917 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 3 63 One absolute coulomb of electricity deposits 0.00111800 gram of silver.
1938 G. P. Harnwell Princ. Electr. & Electromagn. 602 It is evident that 1 international volt is equal to 1·00043 absolute volts, 1 international joule is equal to 1·00034 absolute or mechanical joules, etc.
1959 Science 2 Jan. 30/3 The absolute ohm is derived from the absolute henry, based on an inductor of accurately known dimensions.
1988 H. A. Klein Sci. Measurem. xxxiv. 423 Today the absolute ampere is the only universally standard unit of electric current.
C2. † absolute species n. Obsolete a distinct biological species which is not a variety of another.
absolute address n. Computing an actual address (address n. 6c), as determined by the hardware of a computer; an address expressed in machine language; cf. relative address n. at relative n., adj., and adv. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > programming language > program or code > [noun] > address > type of
absolute address1951
relative address1951
symbolic address1953
base address1958
indirect address1959
pointer1963
direct address1964
immediate address1964
vector address1975
referrer1995
1949 Math. Tables & Other Aids Computation 3 541 The provision of extra binary digits in the coding as an indication of whether the corresponding address is to be taken as an absolute location in the memory [etc.].]
1951 Math. Tables & Other Aids Computation 5 234 An absolute address is interpreted in the usual sense merely as a number identifying a specific memory location.
1983 Your Computer (Austral.) Aug. 25/1 If a program is edited, all the absolute addresses are changed.
2004 T. Stauffer How to do Everything with Your iMac (ed. 4) viii. 152 You can circumvent this by creating an absolute address using dollar signs ($). The address $B$10 is an absolute address that always points to cell B10.
absolute addressing n. Computing the use of absolute addresses.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > programming language > program or code > [noun] > address > systems of
indirect address1959
absolute addressing1960
relative addressing1960
direct addressing1963
immediate addressing1964
symbolic addressing1977
multi-addressing1982
1960 Ann. Rev. Automatic Programming 1 133 Instructions can be given references to avoid absolute addressing for the purpose of jumping out of sequence.
1992 R. P. Bakeman Understanding Social Sci. Statistics i. 11 The initial formula..indicates relative addressing for the first term but absolute addressing for the second.
2004 PR Newswire (Nexis) 23 Nov. The new compiler offers developers a number of technical advantages, including..absolute addressing.
absolute alcohol n. Chemistry ethanol containing less than one per cent of water by weight.
ΚΠ
1807 Philos. Mag. 26 85 On distilling to dryness a mixture of equal parts of acetic acid and absolute alcohol, (i.e. prepared according to Richter, with the melted muriate of lime,) no trace remains.
1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) I. 43 The separation of absolute alcohol would appear to have been first effected about 1300 by Arnauld de Villeneuve.
1928 A. Huxley Point Counter Point v. 80 Voluptuously, he sniffed the faint smell of the absolute alcohol in which the specimens were pickled.
2009 Independent (Nexis) 25 Sept. 30 Two United Nations reports listed Uganda as having the highest per capita consumption of absolute alcohol in the world.
absolute altimeter n. Aeronautics an altimeter which measures absolute altitude.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measuring instrument > [noun] > for measuring altitude
hypsometer1864
thermobarometer1864
altimeter1904
altigraph1914
radio altimeter1927
absolute altimeter1930
barometric altimeter1930
1930 Aviation Engin. Jan. 23/1 If an altimeter were available which gave distances above the ground instead of above a certain average ground pressure level, the pilot might use it as a navigation instrument... A number of such instruments, referred to as absolute altimeters, are now under development.
1932 C. C. Carter & C. N. Monteith Aerodynam. & Airplane (ed. 4) xi. 427 Three types of absolute altimeters for indicating the altitude of the aircraft above the ground over which it is flying..are being developed.
1938 Proc. IRE 26 848 An absolute altimeter utilizing a radio-wave-reflection method, has the following outstanding advantages.
1948 Astounding Sci. Fiction Oct. 27 These three [jets] are coupled directly to the same outlet valve, which is controlled by an absolute altimeter.
2003 J. F. Angier Ready or Not 100 Besides the radar equipment for navigating and bombing through clouds, it had an absolute altimeter, giving us the exact height above the ground.
absolute altitude n. [after French hauteur absolue (1797 in the passage translated in quot. 1798, or earlier)] altitude relative to sea level or some other reference level; (Aeronautics) the altitude of an aircraft above the land or sea over which it is flying; cf. absolute height n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > high position > [noun] > height above the ground or sea level > of an aircraft
absolute altitude1921
angel1943
1798 tr. J. F. G. de la Pérouse Voy. round World II. xx. 468 We took advantage of it in order to take the absolute altitudes of the sun, for the purpose of ascertaining the hour.
1828 Edinb. Jrnl. Sci. 9 193 The measurements of the absolute altitude of the different parts of the mountain at successive periods are of great interest.
1921 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 2 Oct. 4/4 At the same time onlookers knew that Lieutenant Macready would try for the absolute altitude, as he had been trying for a year.
1992 Pilot (BNC) June 64 Pyxis's receiver..provides..relative altitude from starting point and absolute altitude based on local coordinates.
2004 I. N. Demidov et al. in J. Ehlers & P. L. Gibbard Quaternary Glaciations I. 330/2 In the southern part of the Vaga basin, the absolute altitudes of terraces vary from 130 to 75 m.
absolute auction n. (also more fully absolute auction sale) U.S. an auction with no reserve price or other stipulations.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > a public sale > [noun] > auction
port-salea1513
outroop1578
auction1595
subhastation1600
outcryc1604
outsalea1670
roup1676
vendue1679
cant1705
auction-sale1820
silent auction1866
absolute auction1870
1870 N.Y. Herald 12 Oct. 1/1 We invite the special attention of those who wish to secure elegant sites for Country Residences to the absolute auction sale of first class Property.
2006 Sarasota (Florida) Herald-Tribune (Nexis) 21 Aug. a1 Herron advises sellers against holding absolute auctions in today's gun-shy market.
absolute brightness n. Astronomy the brightness of a star or other celestial object as it would be as seen from a standard distance (now usually ten parsecs); cf. absolute magnitude n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > star > star-matter > [noun] > brightness
brightness1674
absolute brightness1832
sun power1853
luminosity1906
1832 W. Herschel in Abstr. Papers Royal Soc. 1 6 The celebrated author may mean the intrinsic brightness of a body, which applies to its surface diminished by distance, and not the absolute brightness of the whole.
1924 G. E. Hale Depths of Universe i. 13 Consider some brilliant star, such as Vega. Its brightness to the eye must depend upon two things: the total amount of light it radiates (its absolute brightness) and its distance from the earth.
1992 Astronomy May 28/1 The most accurate technique for determining distances to nearby galaxies in recent times is measuring the apparent brightnesses of Cepheid variable stars. Their precise variability and absolute brightness make them valuable and dependable ‘standard candles’.
absolute ceiling n. Originally Aeronautics the maximum altitude at which an aircraft can maintain horizontal flight in standard atmospheric conditions; (now usually) figurative a prescribed upper limit.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > qualities and parameters of aircraft > [noun] > maximum altitude
ceiling1917
roof1917
absolute ceiling1918
1918 Bull. Exper. Dept. Airplane Engin. Div. U.S.A. Nov. 11/1 The service ceiling, or altitude at which the rate of climb is 100 ft. per min., is 17,000 ft., and the estimated absolute ceiling is slightly in excess of 20,000 ft.
1942 W. H. Wenstrom Weather & Ocean of Air i. 23 For the airplane this absolute ceiling is probably around eleven miles above sea level.
1973 Edwardsville (Illinois) Intelligencer 6 Feb. 4/4 This method will require Congress to set an absolute ceiling on spending.
2007 Energy Policy 35 1284/2 Kyoto sets limits on countries' emissions in terms of an absolute ceiling to be achieved as of a given date.
absolute convergence n. Mathematics the property of an infinite series by which, though it may not converge, the derived series formed by taking the absolute values of the terms of the given series does converge; cf. absolutely convergent at absolutely adv. 12.
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1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 71/2 In considering infinite series we must explain the concept of absolute convergence introduced by Cauchy.
2003 Jrnl. Appl. Probability 40 913 It is easy to verify that (4.1) implies the absolute convergence of the sequence on the right-hand side of (4.3).
absolute drought n. Meteorology (now rare) a period of at least 15 (originally †14) consecutive days in which the rainfall does not exceed one hundredth of an inch (originally, †in which there is no rainfall); cf. partial drought n. at partial adj. and n. Compounds.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > dry weather or climate > [noun] > spell of
absolute drought1881
dry spell1887
1881 G. J. Symons in Brit. Rainfall 1880 112 (1) ‘Absolute Droughts’, or all periods of 14 or more consecutive days absolutely without rain; and (2) ‘Partial Droughts’, or all periods of 28 days or upwards in which the total fall was less than a quarter of an inch.
1899 Daily News 12 June 7/2 With all the dry weather we had last year there was not one case of an absolute drought in London.
2007 Coventry Evening Tel. (Nexis) 21 Apr. 13 An absolute drought in the UK is defined as a period of at least 15 consecutive days without rain.
absolute error n. the magnitude of the difference between the actual value of a measurement or other quantity and the number that is assigned to it.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [noun] > relationship between quantities > difference or discrepancy
odds1525
apotome1571
difference1745
absolute error1775
residual1854
error of closure1981
1775 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 65 371 Zenith distances taken with the eighteen inch quadrant, to ascertain the absolute error of the clock.
1846 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 9 331 The absolute error of needle No. 2, seems to have been constant.
1881 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 172 397 The proportional error of observation of a small arc is of course much greater than that of a large one, but the absolute error..is rather less.
1980 C. S. French Computer Sci. xxi. 127 Relative error = Absolute error/True Value.
2005 Financial Times (Nexis) 10 Aug. 17 A year ago, the record showed that the average absolute error in the Bank's year-ahead forecast was 0.3 per cent for inflation and 0.9 per cent for GDP.
absolute height n. [compare German absolute Höhe height above sea level (1706)] height expressed in absolute terms, esp. height above sea level; (Aeronautics) the altitude of an aircraft above the land or sea over which it is flying; cf. absolute altitude n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > high position > [noun] > height above the ground or sea level
heightc1290
altitudea1449
absolute height1729
elevation1856
upwardness1896
1729 Philos. Trans. 1727–8 (Royal Soc.) 35 577 Dicæarchus found Mount Pelius in Thessalia, to be 1250 Paces high, which makes..6822 Paris Feet, a Height which we may well pronounce too great even for the absolute Height of Mount Pelius, I mean its Rise above the Level of the Sea.
1837 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 127 432 The observed height of the mercury in a barometer requires several corrections..in order to determine its absolute height, or that point when it may be considered strictly comparable with another barometer.
1846 Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 16 p. lxx The absolute height of the head of this one of the many sources of the Nile may be regarded as fixed at about 9000 feet.
1936 Aircraft Engin. Nov. 298/2 We cannot help wishing it were possible to define an absolute height akin to absolute temperature.
1957 Geogr. Jrnl. 123 492 Absolute height in surveying from air photographs, if accurate, would be valuable.
2003 M. Kraak & F. Ormeling Cartography (ed. 2) v. 84/2 Absolute heights can be displayed by contour lines or height points, as shown by the graphic representation of the northeastern side of Mount Kilimanjaro.
absolute humidity n. Meteorology humidity measured as the quantity of water vapour in a given volume of air, usually expressed in grams per cubic metre; cf. relative humidity at humidity n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > moisture or humidity > [noun] > moisture content > of air
absolute humidity1813
1813 J. Leslie Short Acct. Exper. & Instruments 124 The dissolving power of air at this temperature being 252, its distance from absolute humidity will therefore be 200.
1867 A. Buchan Handy Bk. Meteorol. 93 It may also be termed the absolute humidity of the atmosphere.
1918 Times 29 Oct. 7/5 The cool outside air has a very much lower absolute humidity than the air in crowded warm rooms.
2002 Arctic, Antarctic, & Alpine Res. 34 274/1 The maximum water vapor pressure over the snow-cover surface is 6.1 hPa, leading to a lower absolute humidity of the air in summer.
absolute idealism n. [after German absoluter Idealismus (1795 or earlier)] (a) any of various views according to which the only true reality is the Absolute and that the objects of human knowledge are ideas of a universal mind or forms in which the Absolute manifests itself (now chiefly historical); (b) (more generally) any of various other forms of idealism which do not suppose an independent reality underlying our ideas of external objects.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > idealism > [noun]
idealisma1743
immaterialism1777
absolute idealism1828
1828 C. Hodge in Biblical Repertory July 348 A numerous party accuse him [sc. Kant]..of having, by his transcendental idealism, conducted his rigidly consequent disciples, some to absolute idealism, others to scepticism, others again to a new species of Spinosism, and all to systems equally absurd and dangerous.
1839 W. Hamilton in Edinb. Rev. Jan. 349 A doctrine of Absolute Idealism was, without communication, contemporaneously promulgated by Berkeley and Collier.
1868 J. H. Stirling in tr. A. Schwegler Handbk. Hist. Philos. (ed. 2) 420 Hegel,..because he subordinated all to thought alone, is styled the founder of the absolute idealism.
1931 A. Wolf in W. Rose Outl. Mod. Knowl. xiii. 576 The philosophy of James is perhaps best understood as a reaction against the excessive intellectualism, and the monism or singularism of absolute idealism.
1953 J. Collins Mind of Kierkegaard vii. 209 Among Hegel's first critics, Feuerbach saw most clearly that absolute idealism transforms the traditional notions of God and man beyond recognition, and hence also alters the meaning of the Christian religion.
2003 Jrnl. Relig. 83 532 Schlegel opposed Absolute Idealism with a critical philosophy that established the limits of knowledge and propounded the unknowability of the Absolute.
absolute magnitude n. Astronomy the magnitude of a star or other celestial object as it would be as observed from a standard distance of ten parsecs; cf. apparent magnitude n. at apparent adj. and n. Compounds.
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the world > the universe > star > star-matter > [noun] > magnitude
magnitude1580
mag1840
apparent magnitude1875
absolute magnitude1902
third magnitude1905
1902 J. C. Kapteyn in Publ. Kapteyn Astron. Lab. No. 11. p. 12 We further define the absolute magnitude (M) of a star..as the apparent magnitude which that star would have if it was transferred to a distance from the sun corresponding to a parallax of 0″·1.
1957 Astrophysical Jrnl. 125 429 Salpeter's initial luminosity function..should describe the observed distribution of absolute magnitudes in young galactic clusters.
2003 J. Scalzi Rough Guide to Universe iii. 33 Astronomers gauge how bright a star really is by using absolute magnitude.
absolute majority n. [compare French majorité absolue (1789)] a majority comprising more than half of all votes cast or (rarely) more than half of the total number of registered voters; a government majority comprising more than half of all the seats in a legislature.
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society > authority > office > appointment to office > choosing or fact of being chosen for office > election of representative body by vote > proceedings at election > [noun] > the numerical result of voting > numbers of votes received by one candidate
simple majority1689
absolute majority1782
plurality1803
qualified majority1916
1782 Anglia Rediviva iv. 55 He appointed ninety-eight of these Centuries to the patricians and leading men, which was giving them an absolute majority of the whole by three.
1801 W. Dupré Lexicographia-neologica Gallica 169 It is called la majorité absolue, the absolute or clear majority.
1848 Southern Literary Messenger Dec. 758/1 For the election by universal suffrage to be valid the elect must have received the absolute majority of the votes given.
1910 Rep. Royal Comm. Electoral Syst. 3 in Parl. Papers (Cd. 5163) XXVI. 295 A candidate, to be returned at the first election must receive an absolute majority of the valid votes cast.
1957 L. F. R. Williams State of Israel 158 No party has yet succeeded in gaining an absolute majority.
2005 New Internationalist Mar. 5/1 Largely thanks to these heralds of the apocalypse, the Left won by absolute majority, without a runoff.
absolute monarch n. a monarch invested with absolute power.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > absolute ruler > [noun]
tyrantc1330
dictatora1593
Caesar1595
absolute monarch1596
imperator1598
voluntar1650
Mogul1653
sultanist1659
sultan1662
Grand Monarque1699
autocrator1718
despot1755
autocrat1762
sultanship1823
monocrat1848
autarch1865
autarkist1938
1596 T. Morton Treat. Threefolde State of Man ii. v. 280 The will is the absolute monarch in a man, and the minde is his wise counseller.
1644 S. Rutherford Lex, Rex 216 The limited Monarch is as essentially the Lords anointed, and the power ordained of God, as the absolute Monarch.
1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. v. 104 The true interest of an absolute monarch generally coincides with that of his people.
1841 M. Elphinstone Hist. India I. i. ii. 37 The government of the society thus constituted was vested in an absolute monarch.
1944 M. Irwin Young Bess vi. 86 It was an odd entry into his palace for the absolute monarch that Edward had just so proudly shown himself.
2005 Independent (Nexis) 13 July 20 The Prince of Monaco is one of the few absolute monarchs left on the planet.
absolute monarchy n. a system of government in which absolute power is invested in the monarch; a state governed in this way.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > sole rule > [noun]
monarchya1393
absolute monarchy1575
monocracy1606
despotic monarchy1764
society > authority > rule or government > a or the state > [noun] > a monarchical state > type of
absolute monarchy1575
limited monarchy1643
1575 Iustification Prince of Orendge To Rdr. sig. A.viii The state of the lowe Countreys is not an absolute Monarchie or heritable kingdome, after the maner of this Realme.
1624 P. Massinger Bond-man i. iii. sig. C1 To change the Aristocracie of Corinth Into an absolute Monarchy.
1791 J. Mackintosh Vindiciæ Gallicæ i. 70 Absolute monarchies..assimilate every thing to their own genius.
1849 A. Alison Hist. Europe from French Revol. (new ed.) I. i. 104 The transformation of France..from a feudal confederacy..to a compact and absolute monarchy.
1916 Biblical World 47 89 Absolute monarchy was not without its alleviations, but it was out of keeping with moral progress.
1991 T. Dupuy How to defeat Saddam Hussein i. 8 Saudi Arabia is an oil-rich, absolute monarchy that has been ruled by the royal House of Saud since its unification.
absolute music n. [after German absolute Musik (1851 in Wagner)] instrumental music which is not intended to be illustrative or representational in any way; music which is not intended to be expressive of anything beyond its own objective form and structure; opposed to programme music.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > [noun] > other general types
country music1585
water musicc1660
concert music1776
eye music1812
ballet music1813
night music1832
absolute music1856
Tafelmusik1880
Ars Antiqua1886
Ars Nova1886
early music1886
tone poetry1890
mood music1922
Gebrauchsmusik1930
shake music1935
modernistic1938
industrial1942
spasm music1943
musica reservata1944
protest music1949
night music1950
palm court music1958
title music1960
bottleneck guitar1961
rinky-tink1962
Schrammel-musik1967
sweet music1967
chutney1968
roots music1969
electronica1980
multiphonics1983
chutney soca1987
chiptune1992
1856 Times 5 July 5/5 They abound in the essential elements of pure and ‘absolute’ music, and spring from ideas and melodies upon which time can exert no influence.
1895 G. B. Shaw Sanity of Art (1908) 28 Instrumental music..designed to affect the hearer solely by its beauty of sound and grace and ingenuity of pattern. This is the art which Wagner called absolute music.
1946 A. L. Bacharach Brit. Music iii. 53 All the same The Planets are in no sense programme music. One must accept them as seven pieces of ‘absolute’ music.
1991 Classic CD Dec. 17/3 It functions on disc as absolute music, as a congeries of melody.
absolute musician n. [after absolute music n.; compare German absoluter Musiker (1851 in Wagner)] a composer of absolute music.
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1880 G. Grove Dict. Music II. 129/2 Instances of a similar kind from the works even of the most ‘absolute’ musicians might be multiplied ad libitum.
1944 Music & Lett. 25 205 The idea of Wolf as absolute musician is, indeed, almost inconceivable, but here and there..we do have the feeling that the music is oddly detached from the subject-matter of the songs.
2005 D. Lidov Is Lang. Music? iii. viii. 146 Somatic reference in music is on the one hand too obvious to command the interest of descriptive musicians, and on the other hand too innocuous to earn the proscription of the ‘absolute’ musicians.
absolute pardon n. an unconditional legal pardon; (Australian) a complete remission of a convict's sentence, including restitution of the right to return to the British Isles (now historical).
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1634 E. Grimeston tr. P. de Béthune Counsellor of Estate i. xxiii. 81 The Prince may moderate the rigour of the Law by a fauorable temper, or giue him an absolute pardon [Fr. grace entiere], if the Subiect deserues it.
1802 New S. Wales Gen. Orders 1 Oct. (1806) 1 To any convict, an Absolute Pardon, the Governor's Interest to get a Passage home.
1968 Times 12 Sept. 5/3 He was sentenced to six years' imprisonment, but was granted an absolute pardon by President Tito and released.
2001 World Archaeol. 33 138 Convicts..who..had an absolute pardon became some of Australia's first entrepreneurs and professionals.
absolute pressure n. the total or actual pressure of a fluid, as opposed to the amount by which it differs from a reference pressure such as atmospheric pressure; cf. relative pressure n. at relative n., adj., and adv. Compounds.
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1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued II. ii. ii. 74 Weight is made by the differential, not the absolute pressure of ether.
1859 Proc. Royal Soc. 1857–9 9 627 The initial absolute pressures of steam in their cylinders range from 32 to 108½ lb. on the square inch.
1933 A. W. Barton Text Bk. Heat vii. 151 It is not the absolute pressure of the water vapour present in the atmosphere which determines its ‘mugginess’ or humidity.
1993 R. J. Pond Introd. Engin. Technol. (ed. 2) viii. 213 The monitored conditions (inputs) include RPM, temperature, and manifold absolute pressure.
absolute privilege n. Law unqualified immunity from litigation; spec. protection by immunity from civil or criminal proceedings in respect of an otherwise actionable statement made in the proceedings or reports of a legislature or judiciary (cf. privilege n. 2c).
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1797 D. Hume Comm. on Law Scotl. II. 131 It may even be maintained, that an oath non memini, or nihil novi, has no absolute privilege, when applied to such a case.
1844 G. W. Cooke Treat. Law of Defamation 60 The effect of this act appears to be, to give an absolute privilege to the circulation in bulk of all matter which has been printed by order of either house of parliament, and to let in the defendant to disprove the legal inference of malice which arises when libellous matter is disseminated in extracts or abstracts of such documents.
1869 Law Rep.: Queen's Bench 5 94 It is to be observed that this absolute privilege is not confined to the administration of justice in the superior courts, but it has been also applied in its fullest extent to judges of the county courts.
1978 N.Y. Times 28 Nov. 1/5 Neither the United States Constitution nor the state law designed to protect reporters and their sources gives reporters an absolute privilege to refuse information demanded by a defendant in a criminal trial.
2003 Nelson (N.Z.) Mail (Nexis) 17 July 9 Had..[he] chosen to only discuss the case in Parliament, there's not a court in the land which could have touched him, because of the absolute privilege that MPs have to say anything they like on the floor of the House of Representatives.
absolute scale n. [compare French échelle thermométrique absolue (1819)] Physics a scale of temperature measured from absolute zero and defined thermodynamically; esp. the Kelvin scale.
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1848 Ld. Kelvin in London, Edinb., & Dublin Philos. Mag. 33 316 The characteristic property of the scale which I now propose is, that all degrees have the same value; that is, that a unit of heat descending from a body A at the temperature T° of this scale, to a body B at the temperature (T − 1)°, would give out the same mechanical effect, whatever be the number T. This may justly be termed an absolute scale, since its characteristic is quite independent of the physical properties of any specific substance.
1899 W. Watson Text-bk. Physics vi. 334 The temperatures..are 283°, 293°,..on Lord Kelvin's absolute scale.
1934 A. H. R. Goldie Abercromby's Weather (rev. ed.) v. 85 Polar air..passes to the negative side of the Fahrenheit scale in winter and spring months. This is one of the points of inconvenience which may be avoided when upper air temperatures are expressed on the Absolute scale.
2005 W. C. Whitman et al. Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Technol. (ed. 5) i. 4 The Fahrenheit absolute scale is called the Rankine scale..and the Celsius absolute scale is known as the Kelvin scale.
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1694 Philos. Trans. 1693 (Royal Soc.) 17 989 The Fishing Hauk is an absolute Species of a Kings-fisher.
1694 J. Clayton in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 18 123 Musk-Rats,..an absolute Species of Water-Rats, only having a curious Musky scent.
1737 T. Salmon Mod. Hist. XXX. iv. 349 Beside the Rattle-Snake, there is the Blowing-Snake, an absolute Species of a Viper.
1770 J. Hill Veg. Syst. XVII. 28 This is but a permanent variety of the preceding; not an absolute Species.
absolute state n. Semitic Grammar the standard form or condition of a word when not in the construct state (construct state at construct adj. 2).
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1752 P. Petit Hebrew Guide 4 Nouns in an absolute state are sometimes found in the construct form, and vice versa, as in Hebrew.
1830 W. T. Philipps Elem. Hebrew Gram. iii. 185 The same word which in its absolute state is an adverb, may become in its constructed state a preposition.
1903 Jrnl. Amer. Oriental Soc. 24 201 The ending of the absolute state has been modified.
1997 S. Segert Basic Gram. Ugaritic Lang. (rev. ed.) vi. 86 The construct state is formally differentiated from the absolute state by the lack of final morphemes.
absolute temperature n. [compare French température absolue (1819)] Physics temperature measured on an absolute scale, esp. the Kelvin scale.Used in a more general way in quot. 1821. In quot. 1849 W. Thomson is the later Lord Kelvin.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > [noun] > based on absolute zero
absolute temperature1849
Kelvin temperature1920
1821 H. Davy in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 111 432 The quantity of electricity that can pass through that part of the wire submitted to the changes of temperature, is so much smaller when it is hot than when it is cold, that the absolute temperature of the whole wire is diminished by heating a part of it.]
1849 W. Thomson in W. Smith Notes Glasgow Coll. Nat. Philos. Class 1849–50 Session in C. Smith & M. N. Wise Energy & Empire (1989) x. 324 We cannot lay down anything for absolute temperature.
1852 J. P. Joule in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 142 i. 67 I take..a case in which the receiver C contains air of the atmospheric density, and of which the absolute temperature is 849°·464 Fahr. or 390°·464 on the scale of Fahrenheit's thermometer.
1853 W. J. M. Rankine in Trans. Royal Soc. Edinb. 1850 20 152 In perfect gases p = τ/ CD/ nM. τ may be termed absolute temperature, and the point from which it is measured, the absolute zero of temperature.
1938 R. Hum Chem. for Engin. Students xvi. 402 Charles' Law..indicates that the average kinetic energy of the molecules is proportional to their absolute temperature.
1963 A. C. Davies Sci. & Pract. Welding (ed. 5) i. 6 For a body of this kind, E, the heat energy radiated is proportional to the fourth power of the absolute temperature.
2001 R. W. Cahn Coming of Materials Sci. vii. 277 Mott and Jones (1936) expressed the Seebeck coefficient in a form proportional to absolute temperature.
absolute temperature scale n. Physics = absolute scale n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > measurement of temperature > [noun] > specific scales
Fahrenheit thermometer1732
Fahrenheit scale1740
Fahrenheit1754
Réaumur scale1764
Celsius thermometer1781
Réaumur1785
Celsius1790
Celsius scale1790
R1806
Wedgwood1807
centigrade1812
absolute temperature scale1886
Kelvin scale1908
Rankine scale1931
Rankine temperature1938
1886 Proc. Physical Soc. 8 195 The usual expression for Gay-Lussac's law is v = c(1 + αt), or, if the absolute temperature-scale be employed, v = cT.
1955 Sci. Amer. Mar. 52/3 In another change, the absolute temperature scale was redefined in terms of a single fixed reference point—the triple point of water.
1993 R. J. Pond Introd. Engin. Technol. (ed. 2) v. 105 The absolute temperature scale in the English system is the Rankine scale.
absolute term n. Mathematics (now rare) (in an algebraic expression) any non-zero term not featuring a variable; a constant term.
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1684 J. Wallis Treat. Angular Sections i. 3 Dividing the Absolute term RqBq, or 4RqPq, by the Co-efficient of the middle term 4Rq, the Result is ¼Bq, or Pq.
1776 W. Trail Elements Algebra ii. i. 70 If there is no absolute term, then some of the roots must be = 0.
1881 W. S. Burnside & A. W. Panton Theory of Equations Introd. 2 The term pn, which does not contain x, is called the absolute term.
1961 G. A. Korn & T. M. Korn Math. Handbk. Scientists & Engineers i. 15 an is the absolute term of the polynomial.
2010 Jrnl. Population Econ. 23 857 α is an absolute term measuring the average wage rate.
absolute threshold n. the level or point at which a stimulus (such as sound, touch, or smell) reaches sufficient intensity to become consciously perceptible (cf. difference threshold n.). [Originally after German absolute Unterschiedsschwelle (1860 or earlier), literally ‘absolute threshold of difference’.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > stimulation > [noun] > minimum stimulus to produce response
threshold1874
absolute threshold1892
limen1895
1892 C. C. Van Liew & O. Beyer tr. T. Ziehen Introd. Physiol. Psychol. iii. 50 This increase of stimulus, that is just sufficient to produce a change of sensation, we shall designate as the ‘absolute threshold of distinction’ [Ger. absolute Unterschiedsschwelle].
1953 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 66 81 The absolute threshold is determined by finding the magnitude of blast of odorous air injected into the subject's nostril or nostrils which will give rise to an odor sensation.
2005 D. G. Myers Exploring Psychol. (ed. 6) v. 142 To test your absolute threshold for sounds, a psychologist—or a hearing specialist—would expose each of your ears to varying sound levels.
absolute unit n. Physics a unit of measurement which can be defined in terms of the fundamental units of mass, length, and time, and is not based on arbitrary definitions; cf. ab- comb. form.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > [noun] > a system or standard of measuring
meta1325
measure1423
metrology1801
measurement1838
absolute unit1857
1857 Proc. Royal Soc. Edinb. 1851 97 Taking ·02 as the electro-chemical equivalent of water in British absolute units, the author has thus found 16300 as the electromotive force of an element of copper and bismuth.
1873 First Rep. Brit. Assoc. Comm. Selection Dynam. & Electr. Units §7 We accordingly recommend the general adoption of the Centimetre, the Gramme and the Second as the three fundamental units; and..that they be distinguished from ‘absolute’ units otherwise derived, by the letters ‘C.G.S.’ prefixed.
1938 A. E. Clayton Performance & Design Direct Current Machines (ed. 2) ii. 15 The expressions so far given for the magnetomotive force are in terms of the absolute unit—the gilbert.
2006 S. P. Brown et al. Exercise Physiol. v. 114/2 A 50-kg individual is exercising..at a V o2 of 1.839 L-min−1. Τhis absolute unit can be converted easily to mL-min−1.
absolute value n. Mathematics (a) the value of a real number disregarding its sign; (b) (in relation to a complex number x + iy) the positive square root of x2 + y2; cf. magnitude n. 2a(b), modulus n. 2e. [In sense (a) perhaps after French valeur absolue (1811 or earlier). With sense (b) compare German absoluter Betrag (in this sense, K. Weierstrass 1876, in Abhandl. der Königlich Preussischen Akad. der Wissensch. zu Berlin (Math. Klasse) 2; 1851 or earlier in sense (a)).]
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [noun] > particular qualities > real > absolute value of
absolute value1816
modulus1866
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [noun] > particular qualities > complex > absolute value of
absolute value1816
modulus1866
1816 G. Peacock Note B in tr. S. F. Lacroix Elem. Treat. Differential & Integral Calculus 612 The term differential..is identical in the two systems;..the limit of the ratio of the respective differences of the function and its base, is independent of the absolute value of h or dx.
1830 J. R. Young Elements Analyt. Geom. i. i. 3 Making AF' equal to the absolute value of the negative root of the equation.
1856 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 146 489 A uniform compression in all directions of unity per unit of surface, is a negative stress equal to √3 in absolute value.
1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl. at Number Absolute value of a complex number, x = a + bi, is + (a2 + b2)½: denoted by |x|. Absolute value of a real number, a, its value taken positively: denoted by |a|.
1930 C. V. Durell & A. Robson Adv. Trigonom. 145 r is called the modulus, or sometimes the absolute value, of the complex number x + yi and is denoted by |x + yi| or by mod (x + yi).
1991 Struct. Change & Econ. Dynamics 2 89 In a productive system, all the eigenvalues are smaller than 1 in terms of absolute values: 1 > |μi|.
absolute zero n. [after German absolute Kälte absolute cold ( J. H. Lambert Pyrometrie (1779) ii. ii. 29)] Physics the lowest temperature theoretically possible; (originally) that at which there is no heat left in an object, (in later use) that at which molecules possess no kinetic heat energy and no motion other than zero-point motion.Absolute zero is one of the defining points of the Kelvin temperature scale, being made equal to zero; it corresponds to −273.15° Celsius.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > [noun] > at which some specific condition occurs
freezing-point1748
boiling-point1773
absolute zero1798
firing point1807
melting temperature1827
ice point1832
dew-point1833
melting point1838
neutral temperature1854
fusing point or temperature1860
welding point1868
flashing-point1878
flashpoint1878
mp1880
ignition temperature1881
silver-point1882
fire point1884
ignition point1887
neutral point1892
smoking point1915
smoking temperature1915
pour point1922
smoke point1933
1798 Mem. Literary & Philos. Soc. Manch. 5 612 If these objections be valid, they will apply also to shew the fallacy of the theorem, for finding the absolute zero of bodies. By this term some philosophers appear to understand the point of absolute privation of caloric.
1853 W. J. M. Rankine in Trans. Royal Soc. Edinb. 1850 20 152 In perfect gases p = τ/ CD/ nM. τ may be termed absolute temperature, and the point from which it is measured, the absolute zero of temperature.
1881 Nature No. 619. 449 This exhaustion [of heat] would not be complete until the absolute zero of temperature was reached.
1935 Discovery July 213/2 The fascinating transition of metals into the super-conducting state when near to absolute zero.
1995 New Scientist 25 Mar. 20/2 Researchers working at the low temperature frontier hope to see new physical phenomena as they push towards absolute zero.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.adv.n.c1400