absencen.
/ˈabs(ə)ns/, U.S. /ˈæbsəns/ 1.
a. in absence: while absent; with a person or people being absent. Now formal (chiefly Law): = in absentia adv.decree in absence: see decree n. 4c.
ΚΠ
a1325 Statutes of Realm (2011) vi. 25 Defendauns mowen maken atornes in alle plaites þer appel nis noȝt, so þat ȝif he is ateint of þe tressepas in absense, þat me sende to þe schirreue þat he be inome.
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) iii. 1300 And if I do, present or in absence..lat sle me with the dede.
a1450 O Lewde Bk. (Tanner 346) l. 16 in E. Vollmer Mittelengl. Gedicht ‘Bk. of Cupide’ (1898) 46 (MED) Þouȝe I be fer from hir in absence.
c1475 (a1449) J. Lydgate Exortacion Prestys (Trin. Cambr. R.3.21) l. 27 in Minor Poems (1911) 85 (MED) Ye byn eke holde..To pray for all, present and in absence.
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xxv. 251 To win purposes by mediation in absence, which their presence would eyther impeach or not greatly preferre.
1608 Bp. J. Hall Characters Vertues & Vices ii. 117 Euen in absence hee extolleth his patron, where hee may presume of safe conueiance to his eares.
1692 C. Gildon Post-boy rob'd of his Mail I. lxxviii. 225 Expressions of Kindness in absence is often the Cover of other designs.
1754 E. Burt Lett. N. Scotl. II. xix. 104 For atrocious Crimes..the Chief or Laird was condemn'd in Absence.
1819 H. Busk Vestriad iii. 176 Shall we..in absence be betray'd, Like puny earthlings by a faithless maid?
1884 Law Rep.: Appeal Cases 9 251 His wife..obtained..a judicial declaration that he had..forfeited his right to lead the proof allowed him and she then led a proof in absence.
1966 Rep. Comm. Inq. (Univ. of Oxf.) I. 404 Degrees in absence and by incorporation.
2005 Irish News (Nexis) 17 Dec. 12 McCague—who has absconded—was sentenced in absence to five years in jail.
b. The state of being absent or away from a place, or from the company of a person or persons. Also occasionally: an instance of this. Frequently with possessive adjectives. Contrasted with presence. in (also during) the absence of ——: while —— is absent. conspicuous by its absence: see conspicuous adj. 2b. far absence: see far adj. 1a. leave of absence: see leave n.1 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > absence > [noun]
absencec1384
non-being1455
wantc1508
absenty1520
lack1548
discontinuance1583
absency1599
negativeness1876
not-thereness1902
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Philipp. ii. 12 Ȝe han obeischid not in my presence oonly, but moche more now in myn absence [L. absentia].
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 381 Wel hath Fortune yturned thee the dys That hast the sighte of hir, and I thabsence.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 4369 His absence at myn herte I fele.
a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 208 Þere schuld noþing be concluded in his absens.
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) II. 530 Helayne wente so lyghtly to see the Troians, That ought not so to do and specyally in the absence of her husbonde.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. xliv. 61 A fayre uncle, your absence hath sette the frenchmen in a pride.
1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 482/1 Herewith he [sc. Richard I] dothe commaunde them also to obey Robert Earle of Leycester, whome he appointed..as his Lieutenant or vicegerent of those parties during his absence.
1602 W. Segar Honor Mil. & Civill i. xxix. 38 No souldier departing from his Ensigne without leaue can be excused, nor his absence auowable.
1633 W. Struther True Happines 76 Albeit he be in every house, yet that his being in them may be called an absence.
1652 Faithful Scout No. 77. 599 This day we received intelligence that General Blake sayling to the Northward with fourscore and eight Men of War, in the absence of Vantrump.
1660 J. Dryden Astræa Redux 6 For his [sc. Charles II's] long absence Church and State did groan.
1707 in Mem. Hist. Soc. Pennsylvania (1872) X. 214 During their absence, I was under the greatest concern of mind that ever I knew in my life.
1719 E. Young Busiris ii. 19 Methinks Absence has plac'd her in a fairer light.
1763 F. Brooke Hist. Lady Julia Mandeville I. 209 There is no reasoning with a heart in love. Time and absence may effect a cure.
1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility III. ix. 190 She was with her beloved child, rendered dearer to her than ever by absence, unhappiness, and danger. View more context for this quotation
1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 14 She mourn'd his absence as his grave.
1932 A. Huxley Brave New World xvii. 276 He manifests himself as an absence; as though he weren't there at all.
1969 B. Head When Rain Clouds Gather iv. 51 His absence from the village gave his family the opportunity to make short work of the troublesome concubine.
1997 J. Updike Toward End of Time 269 The single dahlia in my absence had grown and proliferated into a small tree.
c. An occasion on which a person is absent; a period of absence.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > absence > [noun] > period of
removea1616
absencea1657
a1657 W. Burton Comm. Antoninus his Itinerary (1658) 161 The infrequency..of that brave bold Legion, whose bands and troups were not full as then, by reason of absences by leave.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iii. i. 2 Nothing passed more than what is usual after long Absences.
1790 J. Adams Mod. Voy. II. lxxvi. 45 They were to meet again after a short absence.
1814 J. Austen Mansfield Park I. xi. 225 After such an absence; an absence not only long, but including so many dangers. View more context for this quotation
1846 R. C. Trench Notes Miracles xxviii. 375 Our Lord and Peter..were now returning to Capernaum, after one of their usual absences.
1917 E. R. Burroughs Princess of Mars xv. 165 She had suspected something wrong from my mother's long nightly absences from her quarters.
1955 B. Pym Less than Angels ix. 104 Tom's long absence abroad had turned her in upon herself and her own resources which had always been considerable.
2002 A. Pearson I don't know how she does It (2003) i. 9 Benjamin never holds my absences against me.... He always greets me with helpless delight.
2. Want, lack, privation, or failure of something; an instance of this. in the absence of: owing to the lack of; in view of the lack of.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > absence > [noun] > absence specifically of thing
absencea1398
vacancy1650
the world > relative properties > quantity > insufficiency > [noun] > deficiency, lack, or shortage
wanec888
trokingc1175
want?c1225
defaultc1300
trokea1325
fault1340
lacking1377
scarcityc1380
wantingc1390
absencea1398
bresta1400
defect?a1425
lack?c1425
defailing1502
mank?a1513
inlaik1562
defection1576
inlaiking1595
vacuity1601
deficience1605
lossa1616
failancea1627
deficiency1634
shortness1669
falling shorta1680
miss1689
wantage1756
shortage1868
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 121a/a Derknesse is absence of liȝt..and so derknesse is nouȝt ellis but veray priuacioun.
?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. iii. pr. iii. 45 Than desiredest thow the presence of the toon and the absence of the tothir?
c1454 R. Pecock Folewer to Donet 24 (MED) An inward sensitijf witt..bi whiche þei myȝten knowe outward sensible þingis in absence of þe same þingis.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer iii. f. ccclii Badde is nothing els, but absence or negatyfe of good, as derkenesse is absence or negatyue of lyght.
1586 T. Bright Treat. Melancholie xii. 59 An absence of one quallity, is not..an inferring of the other: but only in priuants, wherof the one is a meere absence.
1651 T. Hobbes Philos. Rudim. ix. 140 Liberty..is nothing else but an absence of the lets, and hinderances of motion.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding iii. i. 185 There be others [sc. words] which Men have found and make use of, not to signifie any Idea, but the want or absence of some Ideas.
1744 J. Harris Three Treat. i. 24 Was it not the Absence of Health, which excited Men to cultivate the Art of Medicine?
1791 T. Paine Rights of Man i. iv Ignorance..is not originally a thing of itself, but is only the absence of knowledge.
1847 W. B. Carpenter Zool.: Systematic Acct. I. §239 They [sc. the Edentata] all agree in the absence of teeth in the front of the jaws.
1861 Louisville Jrnl. 3 Sept. in F. Moore Rebellion Rec. (1862) III. ii. 36/2 In the absence of sufficient power in the State.., the military power of the United States steps in to punish these outrages.
1942 J. S. Huxley Evolution v. 166 Groups..remain separate in spite of the complete or almost complete absence of morphological differences.
1991 F. Kanga Heaven on Wheels iii. 25 The absence of prosecutions for many years had not meant the absence of harassment by police.
2007 Science 2 Feb. 586/1 In the absence of a casing to protect the drill hole, fluid gushed back up, suffusing sediments.
3.
a. Inattention; failure to concentrate; mental preoccupation or abstraction; an instance of this. Frequently in absence of mind.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > abstraction, absent-mindedness > [noun]
amusement1663
reverie1690
abstractedness1705
absence1709
preoccupation1788
absentness1790
abstraction1791
absent-mindedness1845
misadvertence1870
not-thereness1902
la-la land1979
1709 D. Manley Secret Mem. II. 165 In that Face, his Aspect is neither Grim nor Terrible! an absence of Mind..; something we find wanting.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 77. ¶1 I..continued my Walk, reflecting on these little Absences and Distractions in Mankind.
1777 J. Priestley Disquis. Matter & Spirit viii. 100 Absence of mind is altogether an involuntary thing.
1840 W. M. Thackeray Let. 1 Sept. (1945) I. 468 G. M. is angry with her for not answering when spoken (to)—the (poor) thing did not do this from sulkiness but from sheer absence & depression.
1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch IV. lxxviii. 265 After he had done speaking, he still moved about, half in absence of mind.
1902 W. James Varieties Relig. Experience xiv. 344 Sufferings and prayers and absences of mind and swoons and ecstasies.
1953 E. Hyams Gentian Violet ix. 176 Jim's absence of mind might cause thousands of back-street chemists to have seven instead of four forms to complete.
1991 Purchasing & Supply Managem. Apr. 32/2 In a fit of absence of mind, your Editor omitted the illustrations from last month's report.
2002 Express (Nexis) 26 June 33 Prolonged exposure can lead to..a dulling of sensations and almost complete absence of mind.
b. Medicine. Sudden, very brief loss or alteration of consciousness, sometimes with small abnormal movements of the eyelids, head, or arms, which is the typical form of seizure in petit mal and certain other forms of epilepsy; an instance of this. Frequently attributive, esp. in absence attack, absence epilepsy, absence seizure.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > stupor or coma > [noun] > sudden and temporary
absence1858
1858 C. B. Radcliffe Epilepsy & other Convulsive Affections (ed. 2) 151 This state of giddiness and absence and partial spasm..may end in positive drowsiness or actual sleep, but usually recovery is almost instantaneous.
1861 J. R. Reynolds Epilepsy iv. 214 These little ‘absences’ have gradually increased in frequency and severity, but at no one period have exhibited any considerable increase or alteration.
1874 Lancet 19 Sept. 411/2 This is a vertiginous condition, which is not without analogy to the petit mal or ‘absence’ of the epileptic.
1928 W. S. Dunn tr. L. Muskens Epilepsy xi. 296 In many of these ‘absences’ automatic movements such as chewing..may be continued.
1957 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 654/2 Such episodes are frequently referred to by parents, teachers or classmates of the afflicted child as ‘staring attacks’, ‘little absences’, ‘fainting turns’, ‘dizzy spells’, or ‘little blackouts’.
1968 Brain Res. 9 372 Behavioural components of the absence seizure.
1996 Pulse 20 Apr. 85/5 The classification has changed and the new preferred terms are generalised seizures, absence attacks and partial seizures.
2006 Dallas (Texas) Morning News (Nexis) 12 Feb. She was diagnosed with juvenile absence epilepsy at age 9.
4. Eton College (formerly also Rugby School). The calling of the roll; roll-call. Also in to call absence.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > naming > [noun] > reading aloud of names
call1606
absence1753
mustering1769
bill1814
muster roll1834
call-over1863
1753 H. Walpole in World 31 May 133 Our custom of calling absence; that is, calling over the list of names, to which each boy is expected to appear and answer.
1798 T. James Let. 14 Oct. in S. Butler Life & Lett. S. Butler (1896) I. iii. 25 Half-holiday [at Rugby School]—Absence at three & five, or half past five in summer.
1814 Gentleman's Mag. June 538 The gentlemen of Eton School..had put off the finery of the day, and appeared at Absence in their common dress.
1834 New Sporting Mag. Dec. 250 My master..went..into the school-yard, where Dr. Keate was calling absence.
1865 Pall Mall Gaz. 8 June 10 Absence, as it is called at Eton, requiring the presence of the boys to answer their names.
1927 Daily Express 7 Dec. 15 An invitation to Eton... I reached School Yard in time for Absence or roll call.
1990 Times (Nexis) 20 Mar. A master takes roll-call at what Eton describes, with ancient lateral logic, as Absence.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > absence > [noun] > one who is absent
absenta1500
discontinuer1577
absenter1678
absentee1735
missing person1850
absence1866
1866 W. D. Howells Venetian Life 118 The balconies are full of the Absences of gay cavaliers and gentle dames.
1873 T. W. Higginson Oldport Days i. 14 What graceful Absences (to borrow a certain poet's phrase) are haunting those windows.
Phrases
P1.
absence without leave n. the action of being away from a post, place of work, etc., without authorization, esp. as a military offence; an instance of this; in later use abbreviated AWOL.
ΚΠ
1690 Act for unlawing & amerciating Members Absent from Parl. 10 Sept. in Laws & Acts 3rd Session 1st Parl. William & Mary Edinb. 310 It is appointed, that all Members of Parliament do precisely keep the Dyets of Parliament, under the Pains following, viz. Each Nobleman, for each Dyets absence without leave, Twelve Pounds Scots.
1736 F. Drake Eboracum App. p. lxxvi A vicar suspended three weeks for absence without leave.
1799 Sporting Mag. June 117/1 ‘Absence without leave’, or a prolonged absence under an original leave for a short time, do not necessarily..constitute the specific crime of ‘desertion’.
1844 North Amer. & Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia) 26 Apr. Gen'l Gaines's continued absence without leave.
1863 Punch 3 Oct. 141/1 He has been in the habit of pleading it, occasionally, in excuse for short copy and absences without leave.
1919 Review (N.Y.) 11 Oct. 472/1 Six months for absence without leave may be a severe sentence.
1933 Boys' Life July 49/1 His long absence without leave made him feel guilty.
1990 A. Beevor Inside Brit. Army xxvi. 323 Commenting on the preponderance of absence without leave as an offence in the Army.
P2. Proverb. absence makes the heart grow fonder.
ΚΠ
?1825 T. H. Bayly Isle of Beauty 5 Absence makes the heart grow fonder, Isle of Beauty, ‘Fare thee well!’
1868 C. H. Haeseler Across Atlantic xxiii. 345 Whether it be that absence makes the heart grow fonder, certain it is that the audience was enraptured with her.
1923 Observer 11 Feb. 9 These saws are constantly cutting one another's throats. How can you reconcile the statement that ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder’ with ‘Out of sight, out of mind’?
1955 Times 22 July 10/7 Except for short intervals when absence makes the heart grow fonder, I do not wish to be parted from it [sc. a house].
2004 J. McCourt Queer Street xviii. 314 If distance Truly lends enchantment and absence really makes the heart go fonder, then I ought to be The Toast of the town.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.a1325