absit

See also: ábsit

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin absit (“let (him or her) be absent”), the third-person singular present active subjunctive of absum (“be absent”).

Noun

absit (plural absits)

1. (UK) Formal permission to be away from a college for the greater part of the day or more.
   • 1868, George Charles L. Tottenham, Charlie Villars at Cambridge, page 198:

     In the evening, after some difficulty, he persuaded his tutor to give him an absit to sleep at Huntingdon that night, and drove over there after dinner in a fly with Egerton, Castleton, and Grey.

   • 1983, W. W. Grave, Fitzwilliam College Cambridge, 1869-1969, page 53:

     Another associated matter was the subject of a discussion, on one occasion only, on the effect of an absit on a student's residence if he used it to be away from Cambridge from Saturday to Monday 'as is allowed at at least one College'.

   • 1992, Eric Lionel Mascall, Saraband: The Memoirs of E.L. Mascall, →ISBN, page 56:

     An exeat was needed to be away for the night and, in theory at least, an absit for the greater part of the day.

   • 2015, William Manchester, The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, →ISBN:

     The following week he wrot her. 'It is a most shameful thing that he should keep me on like this...I am awfully cross because now I am not able to come home for an absit [overnight leave] on Thursday which I very much wanted to do.'

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Amharic አብሲት (ʾäbsit, “proofing dough”).

Noun

absit (plural absits)

1. A portion of fermenting dough diluted to a paste with water and then cooked.
   • 1987, Larry R. Beuchat, Food and Beverage Mycology, →ISBN, page 296:

     A portion of the fermented paste may be mixed with three parts of water and boiled, resulting in an absit.

   • 2011, Elke Arendt, Fabio Dal Bello, Gluten-Free Cereal Products and Beverages, →ISBN, page 135:

     The cooking gelatinizes the starch and makes the absit viscous.

   • 2012, S P Cauvain, Breadmaking: Improving Quality, →ISBN, page 764:

     An absit is not made, and the baking is carried out on an open hotplate.

References

• አብሲት in Abyssinica Dictionary.

Anagrams

• IBATs, Staib, baits, batis, tabis

Latin

Verb

absit

1. third-person singular present active subjunctive of absum