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抽象 (chōu xiàng) — abstract (not concrete or specific)

Definition

As an adjective, 抽象 means 'abstract' — not concrete, hard to picture or grasp (opposite of 具体). 摘要 is the related HSK 7 noun meaning a written 'abstract' or summary of a document; the two are not interchangeable.

adjective
abstract (not concrete or specific)
Measure word · 种

Examples

  • 抽象，。
    Zhè ge lǐ lùn tài chōu xiàng le, hěn nán lǐ jiě.
    This theory is too abstract to understand.
  • 抽象，。
    Tā xǐ huan huà chōu xiàng huà, bù xǐ huan huà jù tǐ de dōng xī.
    He likes to paint abstract paintings, not concrete things.
  • 抽象。
    Shù xué zhōng de chōu xiàng gài niàn xū yào màn màn tǐ huì.
    Abstract concepts in mathematics need to be gradually understood.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

抽chōupull out
象xiàngimage

抽, to pull out, and 象, image, describe pulling the visible form away from a thing, leaving an abstract idea.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
由
由yóu抽chōu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 扌 is the hand form, written in full as 手, and the right part 由 provides the sound.

Open 抽 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

象 is drawn as an elephant, with a long trunk, a head, and a big body.

Open 象 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 5Abstract Concepts

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