Wiktionary

absent

See also: absént

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology 1

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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

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Adjective

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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 (not comparable) Being away from a place; withdrawn from a place; existing but not present; (sometimes) missing.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    Tom was there, but he seemed absent and withdrawn.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
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Translations
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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.
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Noun

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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

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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
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Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

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Verb

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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
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Translations
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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

References

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  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

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Catalan

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin absentem. Doublet of ausent.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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absent m or f (masculine and feminine plural absents)

  1. absent
    Antonym: present
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Further reading

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Dutch

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French absent.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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absent (comparative absenter, superlative absentst)

  1. absent
    Synonym: afwezig
    Antonyms: present, aanwezig

Declension

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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 —
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French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin absentem. Compare the popular form ausent.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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

  1. absent
  2. absent-minded

Derived terms

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Noun

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absent m (plural absents)

  1. absentee; missing person

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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German

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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absent (strong nominative masculine singular absenter, not comparable)

  1. absent, not present
  2. absent-minded

Declension

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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

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Etymology

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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

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absent m

  1. (Jersey) absent

Derived terms

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Polish

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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

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

References

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  • 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

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French absent, Latin absēns, absēntem.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /abˈsent/, /apˈsent/

Adjective

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

  1. absent
    Antonym: prezent

Declension

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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
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Further reading

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Tagalog

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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absent (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜊ᜔ᜐᜒᜈ᜔ᜆ᜔)

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

Derived terms

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Further reading

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