What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Absolute vs Full - What's the difference?

absolute | full |

As a noun absolute

is (philosophy) that which is totally unconditioned, unrestricted, pure, perfect, or complete; that which can be thought of without relation to others .

As an adjective full is

foul, rotten.

absolute

English

Alternative forms

*

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • (obsolete) Absolved; free.
  • (obsolete) Disengaged from accidental circumstances.
  • (archaic) Complete in itself; perfect.
  • * (rfdate) :
  • So absolute she seems, And in herself complete.
  • (grammar) Not immediately dependent on the other parts of the sentence; as
  • # (of a case form) syntactically connected to the rest of the sentence in an atypical manner; ablative absolute; nominative absolute; genitive absolute; accusative absolute.
  • # standing by itself in a loose syntactical connection, and qualifying the sentence as a whole rather than any single word in it.
  • Anyhow in 'anyhow, I made it home' is an absolute .
  • # (of an adjective or possessive pronoun) lacking a modified substantive.
  • Hungry in 'Feed the hungry.'
  • # (comparative, superlative) expressing a relative term without a definite comparison.'
  • Older in 'An older person should be treated with respect.
  • # having no direct object.
  • Kill in 'If looks could kill...'
  • # (Irish, Welsh) an inflected verb that is not preceded by any number of articles or compounded with a preverb.
  • (obsolete) Absorbed in, as an occupation.
  • Unrestricted; in sole control; possessing absolute power; independent, as in ownership or authority.
  • Pure; unmixed; as, absolute alcohol.
  • (figurative) Complete; utter; outright; unmitigated; entire; total; not qualified or diminished in any way; unrestricted; without limitation.
  • When caught, he told an absolute lie.
  • Unconditional; free from any conditions, limitations, and relations;
  • # having unlimited power, without limits set by a constitution, parliament, or other means.
  • # proceeding from or characteristic of an absolute ruler.
  • * 1962 , Hannah Arendt, On Revolution , (1990), page 155:
  • the more absolute' the ruler, the more ' absolute the revolution will be which replaces him.
  • # Absolutist; arbitrary; despotic.
  • Real; actual.
  • (archaic) Certain; free from doubt or uncertainty, as a person or prediction.
  • * (rfdate) (William Shakespeare), Cymbeline , Act 4, Scene 2:
  • I am absolute ’t was very Cloten.
  • Positive; unquestionable; peremptory.
  • Free from conditional limitations; operating or existing in full under all circumstances without variation.
  • (philosophy) Existing, able to be thought of, or able to be viewed without relation to other things.
  • absolute motion
    absolute time or space
    Absolute rights and duties are such as pertain to man in a state of nature as contradistinguished from ''relative'' rights and duties, or such as pertain to him in his social relations.
  • * (rfdate) :
  • To Cusa we can indeed articulately trace, word and thing, the recent philosophy of the absolute .
  • Authoritative; peremptory.
  • * (rfdate) :
  • The peddler stopped, and tapped her on the head, With absolute forefinger, brown and ringed.
  • (philosophy) Fundamental; ultimate; intrinsic; free from the variability and error natural to the human way of thinking and perception.
  • (physics) Independent of arbitrary units of measurement not comparative or relative as,
  • # having reference to or derived from the simplest manner from the fundamental units of mass, time, and length.
  • # relating to the absolute temperature scale.
  • (legal) Complete; unconditional; final; without encumbrances; not liable to change or cancellation.
  • (education) Pertaining to a grading system based on the knowledge of the individual and not on the comparative knowledge of the group of students.
  • (art) Concerned entirely with expressing beauty and feelings, lacking meaningful reference.
  • (dance) Utilizing the body to express ideas, independent of music and costumes.
  • (math) Indicating an expression that is true for all real number; unconditional.
  • Derived terms

    * ablative absolute * absolute address * absolute curvature * absolute equation * absolute magnitude * absolute majority * absolute monarchy * absolute music * absolute pitch * absolute power * absolute space * absolute term * absolute temperature * absolute value * absolute zero

    Synonyms

    * categorical, unconditional, unlimited, unrestricted * (having unlimited power) autocratic, despotic * (complete in itself) fixed * (able to be viewed without relation to other things) independent

    Antonyms

    * conditional, limited * (able to be viewed without relation to other things) relative, dependent

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • That which is independent of context-dependent interpretation, inviolate, fundamental.
  • moral absolutes
  • Anything that is absolute.
  • (geometry) In a plane, the two imaginary circular points at infinity; in space of three dimensions, the imaginary circle at infinity.
  • (philosophy, usually capitalized) A realm which exists without reference to anything else; that which can be imagined purely by itself; absolute ego.
  • * 1983 , (Lawrence Durrell), Sebastian'', Faber & Faber 2004 (''Avignon Quintet ), page 1039:
  • Withdrawn as a Buddha he sat, watching the alien world from his perch in the absolute .
  • (philosophy, usually capitalized) The unity of spirit and nature; God.
  • (philosophy, usually capitalized) The whole of reality; the totality to which everything is reduced.
  • Concentrated natural flower oil, used for perfumes.
  • Usage notes

    * (not dependent on anything else) Usually preceded by the word the . * (sense) Usually preceded by the word the

    References

    *

    Anagrams

    * ----

    full

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) full, from (etyl) . Germanic cognates include West Frisian fol, Low German vull, Dutch vol, German voll, Danish fuld, and Swedish and Norwegian .

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Containing the maximum possible amount of that which can fit in the space available.
  • *
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage='Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.}}
  • Complete; with nothing omitted.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Catherine Clabby
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Focus on Everything , passage=Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus.
  • Total, entire.
  • (informal) Having eaten to satisfaction, having a "full" stomach; replete.
  • Of a garment, of a size that is ample, wide, or having ample folds or pleats to be comfortable.
  • Having depth and body; rich.
  • a full singing voice
  • (obsolete) Having the mind filled with ideas; stocked with knowledge; stored with information.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • Reading maketh a full man.
  • Having the attention, thoughts, etc., absorbed in any matter, and the feelings more or less excited by it.
  • She's full of her latest project.
  • * John Locke
  • Everyone is full of the miracles done by cold baths on decayed and weak constitutions.
  • Filled with emotions.
  • * Lowell
  • The heart is so full that a drop overfills it.
  • (obsolete) Impregnated; made pregnant.
  • * Dryden
  • Ilia, the fair, full of Mars.
    Synonyms
    * (containing the maximum possible amount) abounding, brimful, bursting, chock-a-block, chock-full, full up, full to bursting, full to overflowing, jam full, jammed, jam-packed, laden, loaded, overflowing, packed, rammed, stuffed * (complete) complete, thorough * (total) entire, total * glutted, gorged, sated, satiate, satiated, satisfied, stuffed * (of a garment) baggy, big, large, loose, outsized, oversized, voluminous
    Antonyms
    * (containing the maximum possible amount) empty * (complete) incomplete * (total) partial * empty, hungry, starving * (of a garment) close-fitting, small, tight, tight-fitting
    Derived terms
    * full as a goog * full as a tick * full beam * fullblood, full-blood, full blood * full-blown * full-bodied * full-dress * full house * fully * full marks * full moon * full name * fullness * fullscale * full stop * to the full

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (lb) Quite; thoroughly; completely; exactly; entirely.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • *:master of a full poor cell
  • *(Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)
  • *:full in the centre of the sacred wood
  • *1819 , (John Keats), Otho the Great , Act IV, Scene I, verse 112
  • *:You know full well what makes me look so pale.
  • *(rfdate) (Dante Gabriel Rosetti), William Blake , lines 9-12
  • *:This cupboard/ this other one, / His true wife's charge, full oft to their abode / Yielded for daily bread the martyr's stone,
  • *1874 , , (The City of Dreadful Night) , IX
  • *:It is full strange to him who hears and feels, / When wandering there in some deserted street, / The booming and the jar of ponderous wheels,
  • *
  • *:Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes..
  • Derived terms
    * full well

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) fulle, fylle, fille, from (etyl) fyllu, . More at fill.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Utmost measure or extent; highest state or degree; the state, position, or moment of fullness; fill.
  • * Shakespeare
  • The swan's-down feather, / That stands upon the swell at full of tide.
  • * Dryden
  • Sicilian tortures and the brazen bull, / Are emblems, rather than express the full / Of what he feels.
    I was fed to the full .
  • * 1911 , Berthold Auerbach, Bayard Taylor, The villa on the Rhine :
  • he had tasted their food, and found it so palatable that he had eaten his full before he knew it.
  • * 2008 , Jay Cassell, The Gigantic Book Of Hunting Stories :
  • Early next morning we were over at the elk carcass, and, as we expected, found that the bear had eaten his full at it during the night.
  • * 2010 , C. E. Morgan, All the Living: A Novel :
  • When he had eaten his full , they set to work again.
  • (of the moon) The phase of the moon when it is entire face is illuminated, full moon.
  • * 1765 , Francis Bacon, The works of Francis Bacon :
  • It is like, that the brain of man waxeth moister and fuller upon the full of the moon: [...]
  • * 1808 , (editor), Works , Volume VII: Practical Works, Revised edition, page 219,
  • This earthly moon, the Church, hath her fulls and wanings, and sometimes her eclipses, while the shadow of this sinful mass hides her beauty from the world.
  • (label) an aerialist maneuver consisting of a backflip in conjunction and simultaneous with a complete twist
  • Derived terms
    * at full, at the full * in full * to the full (freestyle skiing) * double full * lay-full * full-full * full-double full * double full-full * lay-full-full * full-full-full * lay-double full-full * full-double full-full

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (of the moon) To become full or wholly illuminated.
  • * 1888 September 20, " The Harvest Moon," New York Times (retrieved 10 April 2013):
  • The September moon fulls on the 20th at 24 minutes past midnight, and is called the harvest moon.
  • * 1905 , , The Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation , ch. 4:
  • "By the black cave of Atropos, when the moon fulls , keep thy tryst!"
  • * 1918 , , The Story Of Waitstill Baxter , ch. 29:
  • "The moon fulls to-night, don't it?"

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) fullen, fulwen, from (etyl) fullian, .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To baptise.
  • Derived terms
    * fulling

    Etymology 4

    (etyl), from (etyl) fuller,

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make cloth denser and firmer by soaking, beating and pressing, to waulk, walk
  • Synonyms
    * to walk, waulk
    Derived terms
    * fuller * fuller's earth

    Statistics

    * 1000 English basic words ----