Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Language: Old French
Origin: Latin, present participle of abesse, from ab- 'away' + esse 'to be'

absent

1 adjective
     
ab‧sent1
1 not at work, school, a meeting etc, because you are sick or decide not to go [≠ present]
absent from
students who are regularly absent from school
2 if someone or something is absent, they are missing or not in the place where they are expected to be
absent parent/father
plans to force absent fathers to pay child maintenance
absent from
Local women were conspicuously absent (=obviously not there) from the meeting.
3 [only before noun] a look etc that shows you are not paying attention to or thinking about what is happening [↪ absently]:
The dull, absent look on her face implied boredom.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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