The Collaborative International Dictionary
Absolute \Ab"so*lute\, a. [L. absolutus, p. p. of absolvere: cf. F. absolu. See Absolve.]
Loosed from any limitation or condition; uncontrolled; unrestricted; unconditional; as, absolute authority, monarchy, sovereignty, an absolute promise or command; absolute power; an absolute monarch.
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Complete in itself; perfect; consummate; faultless; as, absolute perfection; absolute beauty.
So absolute she seems, And in herself complete.
--Milton. -
Viewed apart from modifying influences or without comparison with other objects; actual; real; -- opposed to relative and comparative; as, absolute motion; absolute time or space.
Note: Absolute rights and duties are such as pertain to man in a state of nature as contradistinguished from relative rights and duties, or such as pertain to him in his social relations.
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Loosed from, or unconnected by, dependence on any other being; self-existent; self-sufficing.
Note: In this sense God is called the Absolute by the Theist. The term is also applied by the Pantheist to the universe, or the total of all existence, as only capable of relations in its parts to each other and to the whole, and as dependent for its existence and its phenomena on its mutually depending forces and their laws.
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Capable of being thought or conceived by itself alone; unconditioned; non-relative.
Note: It is in dispute among philosopher whether the term, in this sense, is not applied to a mere logical fiction or abstraction, or whether the absolute, as thus defined, can be known, as a reality, by the human intellect.
To Cusa we can indeed articulately trace, word and thing, the recent philosophy of the absolute.
--Sir W. Hamilton. -
Positive; clear; certain; not doubtful. [R.]
I am absolute 't was very Cloten.
--Shak. -
Authoritative; peremptory. [R.]
The peddler stopped, and tapped her on the head, With absolute forefinger, brown and ringed.
--Mrs. Browning. (Chem.) Pure; unmixed; as, absolute alcohol.
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(Gram.) Not immediately dependent on the other parts of the sentence in government; as, the case absolute. See Ablative absolute, under Ablative.
Absolute curvature (Geom.), that curvature of a curve of double curvature, which is measured in the osculating plane of the curve.
Absolute equation (Astron.), the sum of the optic and eccentric equations.
Absolute space (Physics), space considered without relation to material limits or objects.
Absolute terms. (Alg.), such as are known, or which do not contain the unknown quantity.
--Davies & Peck.Absolute temperature (Physics), the temperature as measured on a scale determined by certain general thermo-dynamic principles, and reckoned from the absolute zero.
Absolute zero (Physics), the be ginning, or zero point, in the scale of absolute temperature. It is equivalent to -273[deg] centigrade or -459.4[deg] Fahrenheit.
Syn: Positive; peremptory; certain; unconditional; unlimited; unrestricted; unqualified; arbitrary; despotic; autocratic.
Wiktionary
n. (plural of absolute term English)
Usage examples of "absolute terms".
There is a constant ratio between the distances at which the doublings take place, and that information alone is not enough to tell you how close you are to the critical value in absolute terms.
Larger berthing compartments in absolute terms, granted, but smaller per occupant.
Never for a moment did he doubt his friend's word, nor the big man's sensitivity - the lack of Wyrrn was proof of both - but in absolute terms his own awareness was far greater.
The sheer scale of interstellar combat precluded that sort of thing, for the speed at which messages and fleets moved through hyper, while starkly unimaginable in absolute terms, was scarcely a crawl beside the distances they must cross.
On a per capita basis, the Star Kingdom's economy was actually somewhat stronger, but in absolute terms Manticore's entire gross domestic product would disappear with scarcely a ripple into the League's economy.
Probably, O'Malley reflected, even proportionately, but certainly in absolute terms.
They're a lot smaller in absolute terms, naturally, given the difference in size between the ships involved, but most energy-armed LACs rely on the capacitor rings to power their offensive armament, and a lot of them rely on the capacitors even for their point-defense clusters.
Not just in absolute terms, but as a percentage of the total planetary population, as well.
Joan goes on to reassure the French in absolute terms, saying: Expect Saint Martin's summer, halcyon's days, Since I have entered into these wars.
They expended tremendous economic resources, both in absolute terms and relative to those of the insurgents who, in many cases, literally went barefoot.
Ask your computer who was stronger in absolute terms, Coydt or Cassie.
I had already explained the terms and conditions, spelling out the prot^ctions^n pretty absolute terms.
Despite the Star Kingdom of Manticore's wealth and the People's Republic of Haven's ramshackle financial structure, the PRH was so much bigger that the smaller percentage of total income it could devote to its military budget was larger in absolute terms.
Too much government tampering with it would be the case of killing the proverbial goose that laid the golden eggs, whereas the very productivity of an unregulated economy meant that even with lower tax rates, it would ultimately produce more total tax revenues in absolute terms.
Despite the Star Kingdom of Manticore's wealth and the Peoples Republic of Haven's ramshackle financial structure, the PRH was so much bigger that the smaller percentage of total income it could devote to its military budget was larger in absolute terms.