absent

• abs.

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”).

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

• Audio (US):

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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 (not comparable) Being away from a place; withdrawn from a place; existing but not present; (sometimes) missing.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.

   • 1623, William Shakespeare, All’s Well That Ends Well, II-iii:

     Expecting absent friends.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations: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 18^th 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   Tom was there, but he seemed absent and withdrawn.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.

• absence
• absentee
• absenteeism
• absentia, in absentia

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]

absent

1. In the absence of; without; except. [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.

   • 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.

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

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

  • Audio (Southern England):

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• (US) IPA^(key): /æbˈsɛnt/
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

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 18^th 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.

• besant, Batens, abnets, Banets, basnet, Basnet

Borrowed from Latin absentem. Doublet of ausent.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [əpˈsen]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [əpˈsent]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [apˈsent]

• Audio (Barcelona):

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absent m or f (masculine and feminine plural absents)

1. absent

   Antonym: present

• absència

• “absent”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Borrowed from French absent.

• IPA^(key): /ɑpˈsɛnt/

• Audio:

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• Hyphenation: ab‧sent
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

absent (comparative absenter, superlative absentst)

1. absent

   Synonym: afwezig

   Antonyms: present, aanwezig

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	—

Borrowed from Latin absentem. Compare the popular form ausent.

• IPA^(key): /ap.sɑ̃/

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• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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

1. absent
2. absent-minded

• aux abonnés absents
• absent le chat, les souris dansent

• absence

absent m (plural absents)

1. absentee; missing person

• les absents ont toujours tort

• “absent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

• basent

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• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

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absent (strong nominative masculine singular absenter, 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”)

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

• (Middle Polish) IPA^(key): /ˈap.sɛnt/

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

• 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]

Borrowed from French absent, Latin absēns, absēntem.

• IPA^(key): /abˈsent/, /apˈsent/

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

1. absent

   Antonym: prezent

• “absent”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

• absen

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

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈʔabsent/ [ˈʔab.sɛn̪t̪]

• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -absent
• Syllabification: ab‧sent

absent (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜊ᜔ᜐᜒᜈ᜔ᜆ᜔)

1. absent

   Synonyms: wala, huwat, liban, lumiban, awsente, di-dumalo

• “absent”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2025
• “absent”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018