Link Centre Dictionary

absence

ab·sence

UK/ˈæb.s(ə)n̩s/ US/ˈæb.s(ə)n̩ts/ fairly common

noun

1.

the state of being absent

  • “he was surprised by the absence of any explanation”
Antonyms
2.

failure to be present

Antonyms
3.

the time interval during which something or somebody is away

  • “he visited during my absence”
4.

epilepsy characterized by paroxysmal attacks of brief clouding of consciousness (a possible other abnormalities)

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English absence, from Old French absence, ausence, from Latin absentia, from absēns (“absent”), present active participle of absum (“to be away or absent”), from ab (“from, away from”) + sum (“to be”).

Phrases

  • absence makes the heart go yonder
  • absence makes the heart grow fonder
  • absence of mind
  • absence seizure
  • absence without leave
  • conspicuous by one's absence
  • in the absence of
  • leave of absence

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.