English▸ adjective
1 not qualified or diminished in any way; total:
absolute secrecy
absolute silence
the attention he gave you was absolute.
▪ used for general emphasis when expressing an opinion:
the policy is absolute folly.
▪ (of powers or rights) not subject to any limitation; unconditional:
no one dared challenge her absolute authority
human right to life is absolute.
▪ (of a ruler) having unrestricted power:
he proclaimed himself absolute monarch.
▪ Law (of a decree) final:
the decree of nullity was made absolute.
2 viewed or existing independently and not in relation to other things; not relative or comparative:
absolute moral standards.
3 Grammar (of a construction) syntactically independent of the rest of the sentence, as in:
dinner being over, we left the table.
▪ (of a transitive verb) used without an expressed object (e.g. guns kill).
▪ (of an adjective) used without an expressed noun (e.g. the brave).
▸ noun Philosophy a value or principle which is regarded as universally valid or which may be viewed without relation to other things:
good and evil are presented as absolutes.
▪ (the absolute) something that exists without being dependent on anything else.
▪ (the absolute) ultimate reality; God.
– ORIGIN late Middle English : from Latin absolutus ‘freed, unrestricted’, past participle of absolvere (see absolve).