absent
absent Lexical Profile
absent Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Not present in a place, at an occasion, or as part of something.
"Several students were absent from class today due to the seasonal flu."
Nonexistent; lacking or not found in something.
"Detailed safety guidelines were conspicuously absent from the initial project proposal."
Showing that someone is not paying attention to what is happening or being said; preoccupied.
"He stared out the window with an absent expression while the committee debated the budget."
• preposition
American Without; in the absence of.
"Absent any compelling new evidence, the court will uphold the original ruling."
• verb
To go away or remain away from a place or event (used reflexively with 'oneself').
"The board member decided to absent herself from the vote due to a potential conflict of interest."
Word Nuance & Usage
Notice the stress shift between parts of speech: the adjective and preposition are stressed on the first syllable (AB-sent), whereas the reflexive verb 'to absent oneself' is stressed on the second syllable (ab-SENT).
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 14th century from Old French 'absent', from Latin 'absentem' (nominative 'absens'), the present participle of 'abesse' ('to be away from'), formed from 'ab-' ('away') and 'esse' ('to be').
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.