• abs.

From Middle English absence, from Old French absence, ausence, from Latin absentia, from absēns (“absent”), present active participle of absum (“I am away or absent”), from ab (“from, away from”) + sum (“I am”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈæb.s(ə)n̩s/, /ˈæb.s(ə)n̩ts/
• (General American)
  • IPA^(key): /ˈæb.s(ə)n̩s/, /ˈæb.sn̩ts/
  • (in the medical sense) IPA^(key): /ˈæbsɒns/, /æbˈsɒns/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (in the medical sense) -ɒns

absence (usually uncountable, plural absences)

1. A state of being away or withdrawn from a place or from companionship

   Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

2. The period of someone being away. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]^[1]

   During Jane's absence, Mark will be taking charge.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Philippians 2:12:

     Not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence.

3. Failure to be present where one is expected, wanted, or needed; nonattendance; deficiency. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]^[1]
   • 2018 September 15, Barney Ronay, “Finely tuned Liverpool are really getting into Jürgen Klopp’s groove”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Harry Kane was an absence in that first half. He touched the ball 11 times despite Spurs taking 62% of possession.

   • 2022 January 12, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Unhappy start to 2022”, in RAIL, number 948, page 3:

     Then, in January, a creeping tsunami of train cancellations, triggered by major staff absences as a result of the aggressive transmissibility of Omicron, heaped further misery on rail users.

4. Lack; deficiency; non-existence. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]^[1]

   He had an absence of enthusiasm.

   • 1826, James Kent, Commentaries on American Law:

     in the absence of higher and more authoritative sanctions the ordinances of foreign states, the opinions of eminent statesmen, and the writings of distinguished jurists, are regarded as of great consideration on questions not settled by conventional law

   • 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 150:

     The narrow streets that twist and turn through the compact heart of Dent are surfaced with cobbles which, in the absence of pavements, spread right across from doorstep to doorstep.

5. Inattention to things present; abstraction (of mind). [First attested in the early 18^th century.]^[1]

   absence of mind

   • 1711 June 9 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “TUESDAY, May 29, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 77; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:

     Reflecting on the little absences and distractions of mankind.

     The spelling has been modernized.

   • c. 1824-1829, Walter Landor, Imaginary Conversations:

     To conquer that abstraction which is called absence.

6. (medicine) Temporary loss or disruption of consciousness, with sudden onset and recovery, and common in epilepsy. [First attested in the mid 20^th century.]^[1]
7. (fencing) Lack of contact between blades.

• missingness

• (antonym(s) of “state of being away”): presence
• (antonym(s) of “lack, deficiency, nonexistence”): existence, possession, sufficiency

• absent
• absentee
• absenteeism
• absential

• casbene

Borrowed from French absence, from Latin absentia, from absēns (“absent”), present active participle of absum (“I am away or absent”), from ab (“of, by, from”) + sum (“I am”).

• IPA^(key): [ˈapsɛnt͡sɛ]

absence f

1. absence

• See esence

• “absence”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “absence”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “absence”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

From French absence, from Latin absentia.

absence c (singular definite absencen, plural indefinite absencer)

1. (medicine) petit mal

• petit mal

• “absence” in Den Danske Ordbog

From Latin absentia, from absēns (“absent”), present active participle of absum (“to be away or absent”), from ab (“of, by, from”) + sum (“to be”).

• IPA^(key): /ap.sɑ̃s/

• Audio:

  (file)

absence f (plural absences)

1. absence (state of being absent or withdrawn)

• absent

• → Czech: absence
• → Danish: absence
• → German: Absence
• → Luxembourgish: Absence
• → Romanian: absență

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

From Old French absence, ausence, from Latin absentia, from absēns (“absent”), present active participle of absum (“I am away or absent”), from ab (“of, by, from”) + sum (“I am”).

• IPA^(key): /abˈsɛns(ə)/

absence (plural absences)

1. Being away or elsewhere; absence.
2. Nonattendance or nonexistence; failure to appear.

• absent

• English: absence
• Scots: absence

• Stratmann, Francis Henry with Henry Bradley (First published 1891) A Dictionary of Middle English‎^[2], London: Oxford University Press, published 1954, page 3