absolute

adj. & n.
—adj.
1 complete, utter, perfect (an absolute fool; absolute bliss).
2 unconditional, unlimited (absolute authority).
3 despotic; ruling arbitrarily or with unrestricted power (an absolute monarch).
4 (of a standard or other concept) universally valid; not admitting exceptions; not relative or comparative.
5 Gram. a (of a construction) syntactically independent of the rest of the sentence, as in dinner being over, we left the table; let us toss for it, loser to pay. b (of an adjective or transitive verb) used or usable without an expressed noun or object (e.g. the deaf, guns kill).
6 (of a legal decree etc.) final.
—n. Philos.
1 a value, standard, etc., which is objective and universally valid, not subjective or relative.
2 (prec. by the) a Philos. that which can exist without being related to anything else. b Theol. ultimate reality; God.
Phrases and idioms:
absolute alcohol Chem. ethanol free from water or other impurities. absolute magnitude the magnitude, i.e. brightness, of a celestial body as seen at a standard distance of 10 parsecs (opp. apparent magnitude). absolute majority
1 a majority over all others combined.
2 more than half.
absolute pitch Mus.
1 the ability to recognize the pitch of a note or produce any given note.
2 a fixed standard of pitch defined by the rate of vibration. absolute temperature one measured from absolute zero. absolute zero a theoretical lowest possible temperature, at which the particles whose motion constitutes heat would be minimal, calculated as -273.15 °C (or 0 °K).
Derivatives:
absoluteness n.
Etymology: ME f. L absolutus past part.: see ABSOLVE