DIMENSIONS: MEASURE / Proportion
Absolute implies an unquestionable finality.
R E F E R E N C E S
Absolute adj. 1. being fully or perfectly as indicated: an absolute correspondence between two parts. 2. free from any restriction, limitation, or exception: an absolute denial. 3. independent of any arbitrary standard: not comparative or relative: a search for absolute values. 4. utter; outright: an absolute lie. 5. unrestrained in the exercise of governmental power; without constitutional or parliamentary restraint: an absolute monarch. 6. positive; certain: absolute in opinion. 7. not mixed or adulterated; pure. 8. Gram. a. relatively independent in its syntactic relation to other elements, as It being Sunday in It being Sunday, the family went to church. b. [of a usually transitive verb] used without an object, as give in The solicitors for the community chest asked him to give. c. [of an adjective] functioning as a noun, as poor in The poor are always with us. 9. Physics. a. independent of arbitrary standards or of particular properties of substances or systems: absolute humidity. b. pertaining to a system of units, as the centimeter-gram-second system, based on some primary units, esp. units of length, mass, and time. c. pertaining to a measurement based on an absolute zero or unit: absolute temperature. 10. Educ. noting or pertaining to the scale of a grading system based solely on an individuals' performance considered as representing his personal knowledge of a given subject regardless of the performance of others in a group. Cf. curve [def. 9]. 11. Math. [of an inequality] indicating that the expression is true for all values of the variable, as z2 + 1 < 0 for all real numbers z; unconditional. -n. 12. something that is not dependent upon external conditions for existence or for its specific nature, size, etc. [opposed to relative]. 13. the absolute, a. something that is independent of any restriction or condition, or some or all relations. b. [in Hegel] the world process operating in accordance with the abslute idea. [< L absolút(us) free, unrestricted, unconditioned [ptp. of absoltere to ABSOLVE] = ob- AB- + solú- loose + -tus ptp. suffix]
-Syn. 2. total, unconditional; categorical. Absolute, Unqualified, Utter all mean unmodifed. Absolute implies an unquestionable finality: an absolute coward. Unqualiflied means without reservations or conditions: an unqualified success. Utter expresses totality or entirety: an utter failure. 6. unequivocal, definite, sure. 7. unadulterated, unmixed.
-Ant. 2. qualified. 3. relative. 7. mixed.
[Urdang, Laurence, ed. Random House Dictionary of The English Language. New York: Random House, 1968.]
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