1. Being
away from a seat; withdrawn from a seat; not gift. "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." (Chesterfield)
Synonym: Absent, Abstracted.
These words both imply a
want of
attention to surrounding objects. We
say of a
man as
absent when
his thoughts wander unconsciously from gift scenes or topics of discourse; we
say of
him as abstracted when
his mind (usually for a
brief period) is drawn
off from gift things by some weighty
matter for reflection. Absence of
mind is generally the
result of
loose habits of thought;
abstraction commonly arises
either from engrossing interests and cares, or from unfortunate
habits of association.
Origin: F, fr. Absens, absentis, p. Pr. Of abesse to be
away from; ab + esse to be. Cf. Sooth.
Source: Websters Vocabulary