absent
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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See also: absént
Alternative forms
Etymology 1
From Middle English absent, from Middle French absent, from Old French ausent, and their source, Latin absens, present participle of absum (“to be away from”), from ab (“away”) + sum (“to be”).
Pronunciation
Adjective
absent (comparative absenter, superlative absentest)[1]
- (not comparable) Being away from a place; withdrawn from a place; existing but not present; (sometimes) missing. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][2]
- Antonym: present
- Coordinate term: accounted for
- Owing to his own illness and then his family's, Ramzi has often been absent from class this month. We will help him catch up with his studies.
- When they were able to return to the clinic some months later, certain pieces of equipment were absent.
- 1623, William Shakespeare, All’s Well That Ends Well, II-iii:
- Expecting absent friends.
- (not comparable) Not existing. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][2]
- (comparable) Inattentive to what is passing; absent-minded; preoccupied. [First attested in the early 18th century.][2]
- Antonym: present
- Tom was there, but he seemed absent and withdrawn. Normally he is quite present [= engaged] during a meeting.
- 1746-1747, Chesterfield, Letters to his Son:
- What is commonly called an absent man is commonly either a very weak or a very affected man.
- 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:
- For days Ailie had an absent eye and a sad face, and it so fell out that in all that time young Heriotside, who had scarce missed a day, was laid up with a broken arm and never came near her.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
being away from a place
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not existing
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inattentive
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Noun
absent (plural absents)
- (with definite article) Something absent, especially absent people collectively; those who were or are not there. [from 15th c.]
- 1772, Frances Burney, Journals & Letters, Penguin 2001, 30 May:
- The Applause he met with exceeds all belief of the Absent.
- 1947, Cecil Day Lewis, Poetic Image:
- That very sense of longing, of yearning for the absent, which 'nostalgia' conveys to us now.
- 1772, Frances Burney, Journals & Letters, Penguin 2001, 30 May:
- (obsolete, Scotland) An absentee; a person who is not there. [15th–19th c.][3]
Preposition
absent
- In the absence of; without; except. [First attested in the mid 20th century.][2]
- Absent taxes modern governments cannot function.
- 1919, “State vs. Britt, Supreme Court of Missouri, Division 2”, in The Southwestern Reporter, page 427:
- If the accused refuse upon demand to pay money or deliver property (absent any excuse or excusing circumstance) which came into his hands as a bailee, such refusal might well constitute some evidence of conversion, with the requisite fraudulent intent required by the statute.
- 2011, David Elstein, London Review of Books, volume 33, number 15:
- the Princess Caroline case […] established that – absent a measurable ‘public interest’ in publication – she was safe from being photographed while out shopping.
- 2013, Stephen K. Wegren, “Agriculture”, in Stephen K. Wegren, editor, Return to Putin's Russia: Past Imperfect, Future Uncertain, 5th edition, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., →ISBN, page 223:
- About 25 percent of Russia’s large farms continue to be unprofitable, and that number would be considerably higher absent government subsidies and assistance programs.
- 2020, Anu Bradford, “8. Is the Brussels Effect Beneficial?”, in The Brussels Effect. How the European Union Rules the World, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 258:
- California cannot promulgate regulations that are inconsistent with US federal laws absent an explicit waiver from the federal government.
Translations
Etymology 2
From Middle English absenten, from Old French absenter, from Late Latin absentāre (“keep away, be away”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /æbˈsɛnt/, enPR: ăbsĕnt'
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- (US) IPA(key): /æbˈsɛnt/
- Rhymes: -ɛnt
Verb
absent (third-person singular simple present absents, present participle absenting, simple past and past participle absented)
- (reflexive) To keep (oneself) away.
- Most of the men are retired, jobless, or have otherwise temporarily absented themselves from the workplace.
- 1701-1703, Addison, Remarks on Italy:
- If after due summons any member absents himself, he is to be fined.
- 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:
- This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half.
- 1986 December 7, Marcos Bisticas-Cocoves, “Just the Facts, Miss Thing”, in Gay Community News, volume 14, number 21, page 1:
- Some people expect that the news should be written "professionally," that it should conform to certain "journalistic standards," and that it should not "editorialize." And this is tantamount to saying it should be written objectively, that we should absent ourselves when writing copy.
- (transitive, archaic) To keep (someone) away. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][2]
- 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
- Go; for thy stay, not free, absents thee more;
- (intransitive, obsolete) Stay away; withdraw. [Attested from around 1350 to 1470 until the late 18th century.][2]
- 1855, Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York, Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC:
- The iron rule of the plantation, always passionately and violently enforced in that neighborhood, makes flogging the penalty of failing to be in the field before sunrise in the morning, unless special permission be given to the absenting slave.
- (transitive, rare) Leave. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][2]
Derived terms
Translations
to withhold from being present
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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References
- Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “absent”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 8.
- “absent, n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.
Anagrams
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