absence English · revision 5867

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1374|origins=la absentia}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈæb.səns/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fro|absence]], ausence,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) a learned borrowing of [[la|absentia]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) an abstract noun from absens (accusative absentem), present participle of [[m|la|abesse|t=to be away]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from ab “away from” (see [[ab-]]) and esse “to be”, from the PIE root [[ine-pro|*es-|t=to be]].^(Etymonline) Compare [[presence]] and [[essence]].^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==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.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of things, a want or lack, is from 1398.^(OED 1989) Absence of mind, inattention to what is going on, is from 1710.^(OED 1989) In medicine, absence came to mean a sudden, brief loss of consciousness, as in a mild epileptic seizure.^(OED 1989)^(AHD 2000) At Eton College it was the name of the roll call held to see whether all the boys were present (1856).^(OED 1989) ''Absence makes the heart grow fonder'' is a line from Thomas Haynes Bayly's song “Isle of Beauty”.^(Etymonline) ''Absentee'' is from the 16th century.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1374 – the state of being away.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1398 – want, lack.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1710 – absence of mind.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1856 – the roll call at Eton.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The state of being away or not [[present]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The time during which someone is away, as on [[leave]] from work.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # [[lack|alt=Lack]] of something: ''an absence of evidence''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[absence seizure]]

+ * [[leave of absence]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[absent]]

+ * [[absentee]]

+ * [[absenteeism]]

+ * [[presence]]

+ * [[essence]]

+ * [[absentia]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}