abridgment

I

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [The act of reducing or shortening]

Syn. shortening, reduction, cutting; see abbreviation 2 .

2. [A shortened form of a work]

Syn. digest, condensation, compendium, summary, epitome, pr?cis, abstract, brief, synopsis, outline, condensed version, condensed form, concise edition, cut version, edited version, short form, encapsulation, abbreviation, reduction, capsule form, thumbnail sketch; see also abbreviation 1 , summary .

Syn.- abridgment describes a work condensed from a larger work by omitting the less important parts, but keeping the main contents more or less unaltered; an abstract is a short statement of the essential contents of a book, article, speech, court record, etc. often used as an index to the original material; brief is applied to a concise statement of the main points of a law case; a summary is a brief statement of the main points of the matter under consideration and especially connotes a recapituLating statement; a synopsis is a condensed, orderly treatment, as of the plot of a novel, that permits a quick general view of the whole; digest is applied either to a concise, systematic treatment, generally more comprehensive in scope than a synopsis, and, in the case of technical material, often arranged under titles for quick reference or to a collection of articles, stories, etc. condensed from other publications; an epitome is a statement of the essence of a subject in the shortest possible form

II

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun A short summary or version prepared by cutting down a larger work: abstract, brief, condensation, epitome, synopsis. See WORDS.