The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
n. The theory and practice of abstract art.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
n. a representation having no reference to concrete objects or specific examples
n. an abstract genre of art; artistic content depends on internal form rather than pictorial representation
Word Usage
"The other side gallery, for figurative works made while abstractionism and later -isms reigned in the 1940s through the '80s, falls apart even more quickly."