abridgment

n.

1. The act of reducing or shortening

   shortening, reduction, cutting; see abbreviation 2.

2. A shortened form of a work

   digest, condensation, compendium, summary, epitome, précis, 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.

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