English Explanatory Dictionary

absolute

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Free of restrictions, limitations, qualifications or conditions; unconditional.
  2. Unrestricted by laws, a constitution, or parliamentary or judicial or other checks; (legally) unlimited in power, especially if despotic.
  3. Characteristic of an absolutist ruler: domineering, peremptory.
  4. Free from imperfection, perfect, complete; especially, perfectly embodying a quality in its essential characteristics or to its highest degree.
  5. Pure, free from mixture or adulteration; unmixed.
  6. Complete, utter, outright; unmitigated, not qualified or diminished in any way.
  7. Positive, certain; unquestionable; not in doubt.
  8. Certain; free from doubt or uncertainty (e.g. a person, opinion or prediction).
  9. Fundamental, ultimate, intrinsic; not relative; independent of references or relations to other things or standards.
  10. Independent of arbitrary units of measurement, standards, or properties; not comparative or relative.
  11. Having reference to or derived in the simplest manner from the fundamental units of mass, time, and length.
  12. Relating to the absolute temperature scale (based on absolute zero); kelvin.
noun
  1. That which exists (or has a certain property, nature, size, etc) independent of references to other standards or external conditions; that which is universally valid; that which is not relative, conditional, qualified or mitigated.
  2. In a plane, the two imaginary circular points at infinity; in space of three dimensions, the imaginary circle at infinity.
  3. A realm which exists without reference to anything else; that which can be imagined purely by itself; absolute ego.
  4. The whole of reality; the totality to which everything is reduced; the unity of spirit and nature; God.
  5. A concentrated natural flower oil, used for perfumes; an alcoholic extract of a concrete.
noun
  1. That which is totally unconditioned, unrestricted, pure, perfect, or complete; that which can be thought of without relation to others.

Pronunciation

/ˈæb.sə.luːt/ /æb.səˈluːt/ /ˈæp-/ /ˈæb.sə.ljuːt/ /ˈap.sə.lʉwt/ /ˈab-/ en-uk-Absolute.ogg /ˈæb.səˌlut/ /ˌæb.səˈlut/ /ˈabsə(ˌ)l(j)uːt/ /absəˈl(j)uːt/ /absəˈlɪʊ̯t/ en-us-absolute.ogg /əbzəˈl(j)uʈ/ /ˈabzəl(j)uʈ/ /ˈæb.səˌluːt/

Word forms

absolute more absolute absoluter most absolute absolutest abs. absolut absolutes

Etymology

First attested around 1380. From Middle English absolut, from Middle French absolut, from Latin absolūtus (“unconditional; unfettered; completed”), perfect passive participle of absolvō (“loosen, set free, complete”), from ab (“away”) + solvo (“to loose”). Influenced in part by Old French absolu. Compare absolve.

Synonyms

categorical unconditional unlimited unrestricted autocratic despotic independent of references relations to other things standards living

Antonyms

conditional limited antonym(s) of “independent of references relations to other things standards” conjunct

Related words

absolution absoluteness absolutize absolutization

Derived words

ablative absolute absolute address absolute advantage absolute alcohol absolute altimeter absolute altitude absolute assembler absolute blocking absolute ceiling absolute cinema absolute code absolute comparative absolute complement absolute constant absolute convergence absolute curvature absolute deviation absolute differential calculus absolute drought absolute endorsement absolute equation absolute error absolute fee simple absolute form absolute frequency absolute geometry absolute horizon absolute humidity absolute idea absolute idealism absolute immunity absolute impediment absolute instruction absolute instrument absolute loader absolute magnitude absolute majority absolute mean absolute monarch absolute monarchy absolute music absolute of enfleurage absolute path absolute personal equation absolute pin absolute pitch absolute pressure absolute primogeniture absolute privilege absolute reality absolute right absolute scale absolute skewer absolute space absolute space-time absolute state absolute superlative absolute system absolute temperature absolute tense

Translations

Arabic: مُطْلَق Arabic: مش مشروط Arabic: غير مشروط Armenian: բացարձակ Azerbaijani: mütləq Belarusian: абсалю́тны Bulgarian: безусловен Bulgarian: самовластен Bulgarian: независим Catalan: absolut Chinese Mandarin: 絕對的 /绝对的 Chinese Mandarin: 無條件的 /无条件的 Czech: absolutní Czech: jistý Dutch: absoluut Dutch: autoritair Dutch: onbetwistbaar Esperanto: absoluta Estonian: vaba Finnish: ehdoton Finnish: rajoittamaton Finnish: absoluuttinen Finnish: ehdottoman varma Finnish: riippumaton French: absolu Galician: absoluto German: absolut Greek: απόλυτος Hebrew: מוחלט Hindi: निरपेक्ष Hindi: मुतलक़ Hindi: विशेष्यभूत Hungarian: feltétlen Ido: absoluta Indonesian: baku Indonesian: absolut Indonesian: mutlak Japanese: 絶対の Japanese: 絶対的な Japanese: 無条件の Kazakh: абсолюттік Ladino: absoluto Latvian: absolūts Malay: mutlak Manx: ard-phooaral Manx: ard-chummaghtagh Māori: pūrawa Eastern Mari: абсолютный Norwegian Bokmål: absolutt Persian: غیر مشروط Persian: مطلق Polish: bezwzględny Polish: bezwarunkowy Polish: absolutny Portuguese: ilimitado Portuguese: irrestrito Portuguese: peremptório Portuguese: definitivo Portuguese: certo Portuguese: inquestionável Portuguese: absoluto Russian: абсолю́тный Russian: обосо́бленный Scottish Gaelic: ceannasach Scottish Gaelic: cinnteach Scottish Gaelic: lethoireach Slovene: absoluten Spanish: absoluto Swedish: absolut Tagalog: wagas Turkish: mutlak
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