absent

• abs.

From Middle English absent, Middle French absent, from Old French ausent, and their source, Latin absens, present participle of abesse (“to be away from”), from ab (“away”) + esse (“to be”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈæb.sn̩t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈæb.sn̩t/, enPR: ăb'sənt

• Audio (US)

  (file)

absent (comparative absenter, superlative absentest)[1]

1. (not comparable) Being away from a place; withdrawn from a place; not present; missing. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][2]
   • 1623, William Shakespeare, All’s Well That Ends Well, II-iii:

     Expecting absent friends.

2. (not comparable) Not existing; lacking. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][2]

   The part was rudimental or absent.

3. (sometimes comparable) Inattentive to what is passing; absent-minded; preoccupied. [First attested in the early 18^th century.][2]
   • 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.

• present

• absence
• absentee
• absenteeism

absent (plural absents)

1. (obsolete) Absentee; a person who is away on occasion. [Attested from around 1350 to 1470 until the early 19^th century.][2]

absent

1. In the absence of; without. [First attested in the mid 20^th 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.

From Old French absenter, from Late Latin absentare (“keep away, be away”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /æbˈsɛnt/, enPR: ăbsĕnt'
• (US) IPA^(key): /æbˈsɛnt/

absent (third-person singular simple present absents, present participle absenting, simple past and past participle absented)

1. (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.

   • 1945 August 17, George Orwell, chapter 6, in Animal Farm: A Fairy Story, London: Secker & Warburg, OCLC 3655473:

     This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half.

2. (transitive, archaic) To keep (someone) away. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][2]
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […] [a]nd by Robert Boulter […] [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: The Text Exactly Reproduced from the First Edition of 1667: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

     Go; for thy stay, not free, absents thee more;

3. (intransitive, obsolete) Stay away; withdraw. [Attested from around 1350 to 1470 until the late 18^th century.][2]
   • 1855, Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom:

     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.

4. (transitive, rare) Leave. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][2]

• Basnet, Batens, abnets, basnet, besant

Borrowed from Latin absēns, absēntem. Doublet of ausent.

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /əpˈsent/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /əpˈsen/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /apˈsent/

absent (masculine and feminine plural absents)

1. absent

   Antonym: present

• absència

• “absent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Borrowed from Latin absēns, absēntem. Compare the popular form ausent.

• IPA^(key): /ap.sɑ̃/

• audio

  (file)

absent (feminine singular absente, masculine plural absents, feminine plural absentes)

1. absent
2. absent-minded

• absence

absent m (plural absents)

1. absentee; missing person

• “absent” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

• basent

• Audio

  (file)

absent (not comparable)

1. absent, not present
2. absent-minded

From Old French ausent, relatinized on the model of its ancestor, Latin absēns (“absent, missing”), present active participle of absum, abesse (“be away, be absent”).

absent m

1. (Jersey) absent

• absemment (“absently”)

From French absent, Latin absēns, absēntem.

• IPA^(key): /abˈsent/, /apˈsent/

absent m or n (feminine singular absentă, masculine plural absenți, feminine and neuter plural absente)

1. absent

   Antonym: prezent

• absent in DEX online - Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)