absent

Forms

absent (feminine absente, masculine plural absents, feminine plural absentes)^[1] Noun: absent m (plural absents), feminine absente.^[1] Old French popular form ausent, 2nd half of the 12th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin absēns (“not present”), first recorded in 1296.^[2][3][5] The Latin word is the present participle of absum (“to be away”), from ab- and sum (“to be”).^[3][2] The learned word replaced the older ausent, the regular popular outcome, in which the ⟨b⟩ before a consonant had become a vowel; it is found in the Vie de saint Évroult in the 2nd half of the 12th century.^[2][3][4] Bloch and Wartburg date the word to about 1185, the GLLF to 1305; the Anglo-Norman Dictionary has it from 1260.^[6][7][8]

Cognate with Old Occitan absens, Italian assente, Spanish ausente, Portuguese ausente and Romanian absent.^[2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1296 a document names the bishop of Amiens as absent, not present.^[2] The popular form ausent had the same sense in the 12th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective, meaning someone away from a place, especially from home, was used as a noun from 1531.^[3] In classical French absent de could also mean separated from a person.^[7][10] Figuratively it came to mean distracted, inattentive in 1798, as in un regard absent.^[3][7] The law uses it for a person whose existence has become uncertain, in the legal situation of absence.^[10]

Timeline

• 2nd half of the 12th century – The popular form ausent.^[2][3]
• 1260 – Recorded in Anglo-Norman.^[8]
• 1296 – First record of absent.^[2][4]
• 1531 – Used as a noun.^[3]
• 1798 – The sense “absent-minded”.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Absent, not present where one could or should be: Le directeur est absent de son bureau.^[10][9][1]
2. (dated) Separated from someone.^[10][7]
3. (of things) Missing, lacking.^[9][7]
4. (law) In the legal situation of absence.^[10]
5. (figurative) absent-minded, distracted: un regard absent.^[7][1]

Noun

1. An absentee, a person who is absent; a missing person.^[10][1]

Related words

• absence
• Latin absēns

Usage notes

The proverb les absents ont toujours tort means that those who are not there are blamed.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 51b
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert