Ablative absolute?

My mind was wandering and free-associating this afternoon and I suddenly realized I was chewing on the term "ablative absolute."

This represents a flashback of almost 50 years to my high school Latin class. For what it's worth, I learned more English in Latin class than anything else - derivatives, word origins and shades of meaning.

I couldn't conjure up a coherent explanation of what an ablative absolute is, so I turned to Wikipedia:

In Latin grammar, the ablative absolute (Latin: ablativus absolutus) is a noun phrase cast in the ablative case. More specifically it consists of a noun or pronoun and some participle (in the case of sum ["to be"] a zero morpheme often has to be used as the past and present participle do not exist, only the future participle), all in the ablative absolute. It indicates the time, condition, or attending circumstances of an action being described in the main sentence. It takes the place of, and translates, many phrases that would require a subordinate clause in English. The unfamiliarity of this construction makes it sometimes difficult for Latin students to grasp; however, mastery of this construction is needed to write Latin well, and its availability makes Latin prose quite concise. The closest English equivalent is the nominative absolute.

The closest translation to the Latin follows the paradigm, with the NOUN PARTICIPLE. This construction however can often sound awkward in English. Therefore, it is often finessed into some other, more English-like, construction. In the following examples, the first line is the direct translation from Latin, while the second has been construed to sound more at home in English. The usage of present, passive or future participles will determine the verbal idea in the ablative absolute.

• urbe capta Aeneas fugavit:

  The city having been captured, Aeneas fled. (literal)

  With the city having been captured, Aeneas fled.

  When the city was captured, Aeneas fled.