concrete
UK /ˈkɒnkɹiːt/ · US /ˌkɑnˈkɹit/ adjective, noun, verb
Forms concreter concretest concretes concreting concreted
- adjective Real, actual, tangible. “Fuzzy videotapes and distorted sound recordings are not concrete evidence that Bigfoot exists.”
- adjective (category theory, of a category) Analogous to the categories of algebraic objects which category theory was created to generalize, in the sense of having objects which can be thought of as sets equipped with some additional structure. Formally, equipped with a faithful functor to the category of sets.
- adjective (by extension, topos theory, of a category C with respect to another category X) Equipped with a faithful functor to X (called a base category), in which case C is called a concrete category over X.
- adjective Being or applying to actual things, rather than abstract qualities or categories.
- adjective Particular, specific, rather than general. “While everyone else offered thoughts and prayers, she made a concrete proposal to help.”
- adjective (not comparable) Made of concrete (building material). “The office building had concrete flower boxes out front.”
- adjective (obsolete) Made up of separate parts; composite.
- adjective (obsolete) Not liquid or fluid; solid.
- noun (countable, uncountable) A building material created by mixing cement, water, and aggregate such as gravel and sand. “Various types of concrete have been used in the construction of this highway.”
- noun (especially) Such a material whose cement is Portland cement or a similar limestone derivative. “The sidewalk was made of concrete that had been poured in large slabs.”
- noun (logic) A term designating both a quality and the subject in which it exists; a concrete term.
- noun (US) A dessert of frozen custard with various toppings.
- noun (perfumery) An extract of herbal materials that has a semi-solid consistency, especially when such materials are partly aromatic.
- noun (possibly obsolete) Sugar boiled down from cane juice to a solid mass.
- noun (obsolete) Any solid mass formed by the coalescence of separate particles; a compound substance, a concretion.
- verb (usually transitive) To cover with or encase in concrete (building material). “I hate grass, so I concreted over my lawn.”
- verb (usually transitive) To solidify: to change from being abstract to being concrete (actual, real).
- verb (intransitive, archaic) To unite or coalesce into a solid mass.
Synonyms
discrete individual particular peculiar proper singular specific
Antonyms
intangible abstract catholic common ecumenical general generic nonsingular nonspecific universal unparticular unsingular
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin concrētus, past participle of concrescō (to curdle) from con- (with, together) + crescō (to grow, rise).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective United in growth; hence, formed by coalition of separate particles into one mass; united in a solid form.
- adjective (a) Standing for an object as it exists in nature, invested with all its qualities, as distingushed from standing for an attribute of an object; --opposed to abstract. Hence: (b) Applied to a specific object; special; particular; --opposed to general. See Abstract, 3.
- noun A compound or mass formed by concretion, spontaneous union, or coalescence of separate particles of matter in one body.
- noun A mixture of gravel, pebbles, or broken stone with cement or with tar, etc., used for sidewalks, roadways, foundations, etc., and esp. for submarine structures.
Etymology [L. concretus, p. p. of concrescere to grow together; con- + crescere to grow; cf. F. concret. See Crescent.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “concrete”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details