Wiktionary

absent

See also: absént

English

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology 1

edit
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep
Proto-Indo-European *-o
Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó
Proto-Italic *ap
Latin abder.
Latin ab-
Proto-Indo-European *h₁es-
Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésmi
Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-
Proto-Indo-European *bʰúHt
Proto-Italic *som~*ezom
Latin sum
Latin absum
Latin absēnsder.
Old French ausentder.
Middle French absentbor.
▲
Latin absēnsbor.
Middle English absent
English absent

    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

    edit

    Adjective

    edit

    absent (comparative absenter, superlative absentest)[1]

    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 (not comparable) Being away from a place; withdrawn from a place; existing but not present; (sometimes) missing.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.
    2. (not comparable) Not existing. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][2]
      Antonyms: present, existing, extant
      Hyponym: lacking (denotes that the absent thing ought to exist)
      The body part was rudimentary or absent in 1% of specimens.
      Empathy seemed to be absent from the messages.
      Signs of forced entry were absent.
    3. (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      Tom was there, but he seemed absent and withdrawn.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
    edit
    edit
    Translations
    edit
    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

    Noun

    edit

    absent (plural absents)

    1. (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.
    2. (obsolete, Scotland) An absentee; a person who is not there. [15th–19th c.][3]

    Preposition

    edit

    absent

    1. 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.
      • 2019 September 5, Ian Bogost, “I tried to limit my screen time (It didn't go well)”, in The Atlantic‎[1]:
        And the distraction-management software Freedom offers a mode that won’t unlock affected apps absent a telephone-support call.
      • 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
    edit

    Etymology 2

    edit

    From Middle English absenten, from Old French absenter, from Late Latin absentāre (“keep away, be away”).

    Pronunciation

    edit

    Verb

    edit

    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.
      • 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.
    2. (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;
    3. (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.
    4. (transitive, rare) Leave. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][2]
    5. (transitive, rare) To omit.
      • 2004, Paul Willemen, “Reflections on Eisenstein and Digital Imagery: Of Mice and Men”, in The Montage Principle, page 188:
        When we realize that the digitalisation of the image involves - by reducing and even absenting - the role of 'the physical', the 'sensuous' (by reducing and eventually absenting the indexical aspects of the image) […]
      • 2018, Nicole Seymour, Bad Environmentalism, page 61:
        Such sequences draw attention to the affective appeals that environmental documentary typically makes, precisely by absenting those appeals.
    Derived terms
    edit
    Translations
    edit
    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

    References

    edit
    1. ^ Philip Babcock Gove (editor), Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1976 [1909], →ISBN), page 6
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 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.
    3. ^ “absent, n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.

    Anagrams

    edit

    Catalan

    edit

    Etymology

    edit

    Borrowed from Latin absentem. Doublet of ausent.

    Pronunciation

    edit

    Adjective

    edit

    absent m or f (masculine and feminine plural absents)

    1. absent
      Antonym: present
    edit

    Further reading

    edit

    Dutch

    edit

    Etymology

    edit

    Borrowed from French absent.

    Pronunciation

    edit

    Adjective

    edit

    absent (comparative absenter, superlative absentst)

    1. absent
      Synonym: afwezig
      Antonyms: present, aanwezig

    Declension

    edit
    Declension of absent
    uninflected absent
    inflected absente
    comparative absenter
    positive comparative superlative
    predicative/adverbial absent absenter het absentst
    het absentste
    indefinite m./f. sing. absente absentere absentste
    n. sing. absent absenter absentste
    plural absente absentere absentste
    definite absente absentere absentste
    partitive absents absenters —
    edit

    French

    edit

    Etymology

    edit

      Borrowed from Latin absentem. Compare the popular form ausent.

      Pronunciation

      edit

      Adjective

      edit

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

      1. absent
      2. absent-minded

      Derived terms

      edit
      edit

      Noun

      edit

      absent m (plural absents)

      1. absentee; missing person

      Derived terms

      edit

      Further reading

      edit

      Anagrams

      edit

      German

      edit

      Pronunciation

      edit

      Adjective

      edit

      absent (strong nominative masculine singular absenter, not comparable)

      1. absent, not present
      2. absent-minded

      Declension

      edit
      Positive forms of absent (uncomparable)
      number & gender singular plural
      masculine feminine neuter
      predicative er ist absent sie ist absent es ist absent sie sind absent
      strong declension
      (without article)       		nominative absenter absente absentes absente
      genitive absenten absenter absenten absenter
      dative absentem absenter absentem absenten
      accusative absenten absente absentes absente
      weak declension
      (with definite article)       		nominative der absente die absente das absente die absenten
      genitive des absenten der absenten des absenten der absenten
      dative dem absenten der absenten dem absenten den absenten
      accusative den absenten die absente das absente die absenten
      mixed declension
      (with indefinite article)       		nominative ein absenter eine absente ein absentes (keine) absenten
      genitive eines absenten einer absenten eines absenten (keiner) absenten
      dative einem absenten einer absenten einem absenten (keinen) absenten
      accusative einen absenten eine absente ein absentes (keine) absenten

      Norman

      edit

      Etymology

      edit

      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”).

      Adjective

      edit

      absent m

      1. (Jersey) absent

      Derived terms

      edit

      Polish

      edit

      Etymology

      edit
      Etymology tree
      Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep
      Proto-Indo-European *-o
      Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó
      Proto-Italic *ap
      Latin abder.
      Latin ab-
      Proto-Indo-European *h₁es-
      Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésmi
      Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-
      Proto-Indo-European *bʰúHt
      Proto-Italic *som~*ezom
      Latin sum
      Latin absum
      Latin absēnslbor.
      Polish absent

        Learned borrowing from Latin absēns. First attested in 1571–1632.

        Pronunciation

        edit

        Noun

        edit

        absent m animacy unattested

        1. The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include:
          • 1983, Akta synodów różnowierczych w Polsce, volume III, page 559:
            strony absentów tak duchownego, jako i świeckiego stanu conclusum, żeby dyscyplina ekstendowana była.
          1. (Middle Polish) absence
          2. (Middle Polish) absentee

        Declension

        edit
        Attested forms of *absent
        singular plural
        nominative — —
        genitive — absentów
        dative — —
        accusative — —
        instrumental — —
        locative — —
        vocative — —
        edit
        adjective
        nouns
        verb

        References

        edit
        • Marek Kunicki-Goldfinger (29.09.2014), “ABSENT”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century]

        Romanian

        edit

        Etymology

        edit

        Borrowed from French absent, Latin absēns, absēntem.

        Pronunciation

        edit
        • IPA(key): /abˈsent/, /apˈsent/

        Adjective

        edit

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

        1. absent
          Antonym: prezent

        Declension

        edit
        Declension of absent
        singular plural
        masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
        nominative-
        accusative         		indefinite absent absentă absenți absente
        definite absentul absenta absenții absentele
        genitive-
        dative         		indefinite absent absente absenți absente
        definite absentului absentei absenților absentelor
        edit

        Further reading

        edit

        Tagalog

        edit

        Alternative forms

        edit

        Etymology

        edit

        Borrowed from English absent, from Middle English absent, from Middle French absent, from Old French ausent, from Latin absens. Doublet of awsente.

        Pronunciation

        edit

        Adjective

        edit

        absent (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜊ᜔ᜐᜒᜈ᜔ᜆ᜔)

        1. absent
          Synonyms: wala, huwat, liban, lumiban, awsente, di-dumalo

        Derived terms

        edit
        edit

        Further reading

        edit
        Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=absent&oldid=90799767"