Etymologically
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absento

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [apˈsɛn.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [abˈsɛn.to][1]

Forms

absentō (present infinitive absentāre, perfect active absentāvī, supine absentātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin absēns (“absent”) + -ō, a verb made from the present participle of absum (“to be away”).[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's earliest citations come from De singularitate clericorum, a treatise it cites under Cyprian.[3] Among dated writers, Augustine uses it both transitively and reflexively: he writes that the Lord absentāvit sē corpore, withdrew himself in body, from the whole church.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

It is a late word, with three uses.[3][2] Transitively it means to make absent, send away or remove: the Theodosian Code speaks of those whom infirmity estranges or a charge of desertion keeps away,[3][2] and some manuscripts of Claudian's poem on the rape of Proserpina have it where others read another verb.[2] Reflexively it means to absent oneself, and in the passive Prosper of Aquitaine says that the body is absent from a place while the soul is abroad in its affections.[3] Intransitively it means to be absent: Sidonius Apollinaris writes of absentāns Ulixēs, Ulysses being away.[2][3]

Timeline

  • 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it transitively and reflexively.[3][4]
  • c. 400 AD – Some manuscripts of Claudian have it in the sense “send away”.[2][4]
  • 438 AD – The Theodosian Code uses it of men kept away by a charge of desertion.[3][2][4]
  • 435/442 AD – Prosper of Aquitaine uses the passive of the body absent from a place.[3][4]
  • c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius Apollinaris uses it intransitively, “to be absent”.[2][3][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (Late Latin, transitive) To make absent, to send away, remove.[2][3][1]
  2. (Late Latin, reflexive) To absent oneself, withdraw.[3]
  3. (Late Latin, intransitive) To be absent, be away.[2][3][1]

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 j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de