ABSENT • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Absent

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/ˈæbsənt/ Listen

adjective

Absent adj.

1.

Being away from a place; withdrawn from a place; not present. "Expecting absent friends."

2.

Not existing; lacking; as, the part was rudimental or absent.

3.

Inattentive to what is passing; absent-minded; preoccupied; as, an absent air. "What is commonly called an absent man is commonly either a very weak or a very affected man."

Synonyms: Absent, Abstracted. These words both imply a lack of attention to surrounding objects. We speak of a man as absent when his thoughts wander unconsciously from present scenes or topics of discourse; we speak of him as abstracted when his mind (usually for a brief period) is drawn off from present things by some weighty matter for reflection. Absence of mind is usually the result of loose habits of thought; abstraction commonly arises either from engrossing interests and cares, or from unfortunate habits of association.

verb

Absent v. t. (past & past part. absented; pres. part. absenting)

1.

To take or withdraw (one's self) to such a distance as to prevent intercourse; used with the reflexive pronoun. "If after due summons any member absents himself, he is to be fined."

2.

To withhold from being present. (Obs.) "Go; for thy stay, not free, absents thee more."

See images of 'Absent'

Etymology of 'Absent'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Absent" Quotes from Famous Books

... not followed by the total extinction of party-spirit, and, while he was absent from Athens on a visit to Egypt and other Eastern countries, the three prominent factions in the state renewed their ancient feuds. Pisistratus, a wealthy kinsman of Solon, who had supported the measures of the latter by his eloquence and military talents, had the art to gain the favor of ...

— Mosaics of Grecian History • Marcius Willson and Robert Pierpont Willson

... intervals to prepare for the various ceremonies which could only be celebrated at sunrise. He was responsible for the superintendence of the priests of Amon in the numberless festivals held in honour of the gods, from which he could not absent himself except for some legitimate reason. From all this it will be seen how impossible it was for a lay king, like the sovereign ruling at Tanis, to submit to such restraints beyond a certain point; his patience would soon have become exhausted, want of ...

— History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 6 (of 12) • G. Maspero

... personification, but has an additional characteristic. When we directly address inanimate objects or the absent as if they were present, we call the figure of speech thus ...

— Composition-Rhetoric • Stratton D. Brooks

... alarm for her," continued the doctor, "and desired no change. Frank is your son, and it is for you to look to him. You thought proper to do so by desiring Mary to absent herself ...

— Doctor Thorne • Anthony Trollope

... Related to Emotion also and one of the most necessary elements in the higher forms of literature is Imagination, the faculty of making what is absent or unreal seem present and real, and revealing the hidden or more subtile forces of life. Its main operations may be classified under three heads: (1) Pictorial and Presentative. It presents to the author's mind, and through him to the minds of his readers, all the ...

— A History of English Literature • Robert Huntington Fletcher

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