From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Absence \Ab"sence\, noun [F., fr. L. absentia. See {Absent}.]
1. A state of being absent or withdrawn from a place or from companionship; -- opposed to {presence}.
Not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence. --Phil. ii. 12.
2. Want; destitution; withdrawal. ''In the absence of conventional law.'' --Kent.
3. Inattention to things present; abstraction (of mind); as, absence of mind. ''Reflecting on the little absences and distractions of mankind.'' --Addison.
To conquer that abstraction which is called absence. --Landor.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: the state of being absent; "he was surprised by the absence of any explanation" [ant: {presence}]
2: failure to be present [ant: {presence}]
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) [syn: {petit mal epilepsy}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
81 Moby Thesaurus words for "absence": AWOL, French leave, abscondence, absence without leave, absentation, absenteeism, absenting, beggary, cut, day off, dearth, default, defect, defectiveness, deficiency, deficit, departure, deprivation, destitution, disappearance, drought, emptiness, escape, excused absence, exigency, famine, fleeing, furlough, holiday, hooky, imperfection, impoverishment, inadequacy, incompleteness, insufficiency, lack, leave, leave of absence, leaving, miss, necessity, need, negation, negativeness, negativity, nihility, nonappearance, nonattendance, nonbeing, nonentity, nonexistence, nonoccurrence, nonreality, nonsubsistence, not-being, nothingness, nullity, omission, paucity, privation, running away, sabbatical leave, scantiness, scarcity, shortage, shortcoming, shortfall, sick leave, starvation, truancy, truantism, unactuality, unexcused absence, unreality, vacancy, vacation, vacuity, vacuum, void, want, wantage
Define.com is a registered nonprofit corporation dedicated solely to the global public interest and the advancement of humanity. It belongs to all of us who have a desire to promote electronic democracy, science, creativity, imagination, reason, critical thinking, peace, race and gender equality, civil rights, equal access to education, personal liberty, free speech, animal rights, compassionate and nonviolent parenting, social and economic justice, global monetary reform, Secular Humanism, cognitive liberty and a permanent cessation of The War on Drugs.
Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
0