Abstraktit

Abstraktit is the plural form of the Finnish adjective abstrakti, used to describe things that are abstract or not tied to concrete form. The term appears across art, philosophy, and general discourse to refer to ideas, objects, or works that emphasize form, structure, or non-representational qualities rather than direct realism. As a word borrowed from English through scientific and artistic contexts, abstrakti has become a standard part of Finnish descriptive language in specialized registers.

In art, abstraktit refers to non-figurative or non-representational styles. Abstraktit teokset emphasize elements such as color, line, and composition rather than depicting recognizable subjects. The term also appears in discussions of design and architecture to denote concepts that prioritize abstraction over literal representation.

In philosophy and cognitive science, abstraktit concepts denotes ideas that are not directly perceivable through the senses, such as numbers, theories, or moral notions. The plural form allows speakers to group multiple abstract concepts under one label, for example abstraktit ideat or abstraktit kategoriat. The word is most common in contexts where a distinction between concrete and abstract entities is being discussed.

Usage notes: in standard Finnish, the term for a paper summary is tiivistelmä, and abstraktit is less typical in that sense. However, abstrakti and its plural abstraktit are used in academic and artistic writing to describe non-concrete phenomena. The form agrees with the noun it modifies in number and case, following ordinary Finnish grammar.

See also: abstrakti taide, abstraktisuus, abstract in English-language discourse.