absolute (absolut)

and n. [ obedience. IMG:content-0089.png:[blocks in formation] 11. In gram., standing out of the usual syntactical relation or construction: applied to the case of a noun and an adjunct in no relation of dependence upon the rest of the sentence, and defining the time or circumstances of an action: as, the genitive absolute in Greek, the ablative absolute in Latin, the locative absolute in Sanskrit, and the nominative absolute in English. -Absolute alcohol. See alcohol. - Absolute atmo sphere, an absolute unit of pre ure, equal to one million grams per centimeter-second square; that is, one million times the pre ure produced on a square centimeter by a force of one gram accelerated every second by a velocity of one centimeter per second. - Absolute ego, in met aph., the non-individual, pure ego, neither subject nor object, which, according to the German metaphysician J. G. Fichte, posits the world. - Absolute electrometer. See electrometer. - Absolute equation, in astron., the sum of the optic and eccentric equations, the former being the apparent inequality of a planet's motion in its orbit due to its unequal distance from the earth at different times, an effect which would subsist even if the planet's real motion were uniform, and the latter being the inequality due to a real lack of uniformity in the planet's motion. Absolute estate, in law, an unqualified, unconditional estate, entitling the owner to immediate and unlimited po e ion and dominion. - Absolute form. See form.-Absolute identity, the metaphysical doctrine that mind and matter are phenomenal modifications of the same substance. — Absolute instrument, an instrument designed to measure electrical or other physical quantities in terms of absolute units. See unit. - Absolute in variant, in alg., an linear transformation of the quantic. - Absolute magnitude, magnitude without regard to sign, as plus or minus: opposed to algebraical magnitude. - Absolute measure, that which is based simply on the fundamental units of time, space, and ma , and does not involve a comparison with any other arbitrary quantity, especially not any gravitation-unit, whose value varies with the latitude and ele What philosophical inquiry aims at is, to discover a proof, by subjective analysis, of a greater certainty in the law, of an inviolable uniformity in nature, of what may properly be called an absolute uniformity, if only the word absolute is used as opposed to incomplete or partial, and not as opposed to relative or phenomenal. S. Hodgson, Phil. of Reflection, II. iv. § 1. Hence-3. Perfect; free from imperfection: sometimes applied to persons. an invariant entirely unchanged by a vation above sea. Thus, the absolute measure of a force is that of the velocity it would impart to the unit ma in a unit of time. The units so derived are called ab solute units; for example, the poundal or dyne. See unit . - Absolute position, position in absolute space. - Absolute pre ure. (a) That measure of pre ure which includes atmospheric pre ure. (b) Pre ure expre ed (which see). - Absolute problem, a qualitative problem in absolute measure, commonly in absolute atmospheres in which it is sought to discover whether an object po e es a given character, but not to compare different objects. Absolute proposition, in logic , a categorical proposition. Absolute reality, in metaph ., reality not as it is conceived, but as it exists independently of all thought about it. - Absolute reciprocant. See recipro cant. Absolute space, space considered as the receptacle of things, and not as relative to the objects in it: opposed to spatial extension . - Absolute temperature, temperature measured from the absolute zero of temperature (see below) on the absolute or thermodynamic scale of temperature, which is defined by the condition that the area included between two fixed adiabatic lines and any two isothermal lines is proportional to the difference of temperatures for those lines on this scale. This absolute scale of temperature differs by very small quantities, usually negligible, from that of an air-thermometer, and by the absolute temperature is often meant the tem 5. Viewed independently of other similar perature on the latter scale above the absolute zero. May seem as shy, as grave, as just, as absolute As Angelo. Shak . , M. for M., v. 1. So absolute she seems, And in herself complete. Milton , P. L., viii. 547. 4. Fixed; determined; not merely provisional; irrevocable. O, pa not, Lord, an absolute decree, Nor bind thy sentence unconditional. Dryden, Annus Mirabilis. absolutely Absolute term. (a) In logic, a general cla -name, as man, as opposed to a relative or connotative term. (b) In alg., that term of an equation or quantic in which the unknown quantity does not appear, or, if it appears, has the exponent 0. Thus, in the equation x2 + 12x-24=0, which may also be written x2 + 12x-24x0=0, the term written -24 in the first form and -2420 in the second form is called the absolute term. - Absolute time, time regarded as a quasi-substance independent of the events it brings into relationship, that is, which occur in it. Absolute , true, and mathematical time , in itself and its own nature out of relation to anything out of itself, flows equably, and is otherwise called duration: relative, apparent, and vulgar time is any sensible and external measure of duration by motion [whether accurate or inequable] which the vulgar use in place of true time, as an hour, a day, a month, a year. Sir I. Newton , Principia (trans.), Def. 8, Scholium. Absolute velocity, the velocity of a body with reference not to other moving bodies, but to something immovable. We know nothing about absolute velocities in space, for we have no standard of comparison. A. Daniell , Prin. of Physics, p. 15. Absolute zero of temperature, the lowest po ible temperature which the nature of heat admits; the temperature at which the particles whose motion constitutes heat would be at rest; that temperature at which, if it were maintained in the refrigerator of a perfect thermodynamic engine, the engine would convert all the heat it should receive from its source into work. This temperature has been proved to be 273.7 degrees below the zero of the centigrade scale. See absolute temperature. = Syn. 1. Unconditional, independent.-2. Finished, perfect, rounded, consummate, complete.-6. Arbitrary, autocratic, unrestricted, irresponsible.-7. Positive, decided, certain, sure.-8. Peremptory, imperative, dictatorial.-9. Immediate, direct, self-existent. II. n. 1. In metaph .: (a) That which is free from any restriction, or is unconditioned; hence, the ultimate ground of all things; God: as, it is absurd to place a limit to the power of the Absolute. Being itself, and the types which follow, as well as those of logic in general, may be looked upon as definitions of the Absolute , or metaphysical definitions of God: at least the first and third typical form in every triad may. Hegel, Logic, tr. by Wallace, § 85. The contention of those who declare the Absolute to be unknowable is, that beyond the sphere of knowable phenomena, but is something wholly removed phenomena there is an Existent, which partially appears them, and in no way cognizable by us. G. H. Lewes , Probs. of Life and Mind, II. 430. (b) That which is perfect or complete: as, its beauty approaches the absolute. (c) That which is independent of some or all relations; the non-relative. The term absolute is of a twofold... ambiguity, corresponding to the double.. signification of the word in Latin. Absolutum means what is freed or loosed; in which sense the absolute will be what is aloof from rela tion, comparison, limitation, condition, dependence, etc. In this meaning, the absolute is not opposed to the infinite. Absolutum means finished, perfected, completed; in which sense the absolute will be what is out of relation, etc., as finished, perfect, complete, total. this acceptation-and it is that in which for myself I exclusively use it - the absolute is diametrically opposed to, is contradictory of, the infinite. IMG:content-0090.png:[graphic] In Sir W. Hamilton , Discu ions (3d ed.), p. 13, foot-note. Whatever can be known or conceived out of all relation, that is to say, without any correlative being nece arily known or conceived along with it, is the known Absolute . Ferrier, Institutes of Metaph., prop. xx. 2. In math., a locus whose projective relation to any two elements may be considered as constituting the metrical relation of these elements to one another. All measurement is made by succe ive superpositions of a unit upon parts of the quantity to be measured. Now, in all shiftings of the standard of sure ment, if this be supposed to be rigidly connected with an unlimited continuum superposed upon that in which lies the measured quantity, there will be a certain locus which will always continue unmoved, and to which, therefore, the scale of measurement can never be applied. This is the absolute. In order to establish a system of measurement along a line, we first put a scale of numbers on the line in such a manner that to every point of the line corresponds one number, and to every number one point. If then we take any second scale of numbers related in this manner to the points of the line, to any number, a, of the first scale, will correspond just one number, y, of the second. If this correspondence extends to imaginary points, x and y will be connected by an equation linear in z and linear in y, which may be written thus: xy + ax + by + c = 0. The scale will thus be shifted from z = 0 to y = 0 or x=-c / a. In this shifting, two points of the scale remain unmoved, namely, those which satisfy the equation x2+(a+b)x+c=0. This pair of points, which may be really distinct, coincident, or imaginary, constitute the absolute. For a plane, the absolute is a curve of the second order and second cla . For three-dimensional space it is a quadric surface. For the ordinary system of measurement in space, producing the Euclidean geometry, the absolute consists of two coincident planes joined along an imaginary circle, which circle is itself usually termed the absolute. See distance and anharmonic ratio. - Philosophies of the absolute, certain systems of metaphysics founded on Kant's Critique of Reason - most prominently those of Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel-which, departing from the principles of Kant, maintain that the absolute is cognizable. absolutely (ab'so-lut-li), adv. Completely; wholly; independently; without restriction, absolutely limitation, or qualification; unconditionally; positively; peremptorily. Command me absolutely not to go. Milton , P. L., ix. 1156. Absolutely we cannot discommend, we cannot absolutely approve, either willingne to live or forwardne to die. Hooker , Eccl. Pol., v. As a matter of fact, absolutely pure water is never found in the economy of nature. Huxley, Physiog., p. 115. absolutene (ab'so-lut-nes), n . The state of being absolute; independence; completene ; the state of being subject to no extraneous restriction or control; positivene ; perfection. If you have lived about, as the phrase is, you have lost that sense of the absolutene and the sanctity of the its of your fellow-patriots which once made you so happy in the midst of them. H. James , Jr., Portraits of Places, p. 75.