What is the official name of a class that must be inherited from to instantiate?

Question

In OOP terms what is the name of a class that is always a parent, and the class cannot be used on its own, it can only be used if a class inherits from it.

I don't need code samples, just the technical OOP term for this class, thanks!

Answer 1

Abstract class.

Answer 2

I call such a class an abstract base class.

Answer 3

A class thats always a parent...not quite sure what you mean by this. I would take a stab and assume you are refering to the Base Class. For a class that can only be inherited from you are thinking of an Abstract class.

Answer 4

It can also be called a pure virtual class if it's C++