Abstraction is a conceptual process wherein general rules and concepts are derived from the usage and classification of specific examples, literal (real or concrete) signifiers, first ...
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principles, or other methods.
"An abstraction" is the outcome of this process—a concept that acts as a common noun for all subordinate concepts and connects any related concepts as a group, field, or category.
Conceptual abstractions may be formed by filtering the information content of a concept or an observable phenomenon, selecting only those aspects which are relevant for a particular purpose. For example, abstracting a leather soccer ball to the more general idea of a ball selects only the information on general ball attributes and behavior, excluding but not eliminating the other phenomenal and cognitive characteristics of that particular ball. In a type–token distinction, a type (e.g., a ´ball´) is more abstract than its tokens (e.g., ´that leather soccer ball´).
