Etymologically
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absence

Etymology and origin of the English word absence

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1374
Borrowed from
Old French absence
Ultimate origin
Latin (absentia)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈæb.səns/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French absence, ausence,[2][3][4] a learned borrowing of Latin absentia,[3][4][5] an abstract noun from absens (accusative absentem), present participle of abesse (“to be away”),[2][3] from ab “away from” (see ab-) and esse “to be”, from the PIE root Proto-Indo-European *es- (“to be”).[2] Compare presence and essence.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The state of being away from a place: about 1374 in the OED, about 1380 in Barnhart, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius.[6][3]

Semantic evolution

Of things, a want or lack, is from 1398.[6] Absence of mind, inattention to what is going on, is from 1710.[6] In medicine, absence came to mean a sudden, brief loss of consciousness, as in a mild epileptic seizure.[6][7] At Eton College it was the name of the roll call held to see whether all the boys were present (1856).[6] Absence makes the heart grow fonder is a line from Thomas Haynes Bayly's song “Isle of Beauty”.[2] Absentee is from the 16th century.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1374 – the state of being away.[6]
  • 1398 – want, lack.[6]
  • 1710 – absence of mind.[6]
  • 1856 – the roll call at Eton.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The state of being away or not present.
  2. The time during which someone is away, as on leave from work.
  3. Lack of something: an absence of evidence.

Word family

  • absence seizure
  • leave of absence
  • absent
  • absentee
  • absenteeism
  • presence
  • essence
  • absentia

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Absence.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/absence. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·