Absentness

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈæb.sn̩t.nəs/

Definitions

1. The condition or quality of not being physically present in a place
2. A state characterized by the lack or failure to be at a location or event
3. The situation in which someone or something is missing or not available at a specified point

Etymology: "Absentness" is a plain English formation: the adjective "absent" with the suffix "-ness", which turns an adjective into a noun for a state or quality. The adjective came into English in the Middle English period from Latin "absens", the present participle of "abesse", meaning "to be away", built from "ab" ("away from") and "esse" ("to be"). So the word is really a double layer of English grammar sitting on a Latin verb meaning simply "to be away." The suffix has an older and humbler history than the Latin root. "-ness" descends from Old English "-nes", a noun-forming ending that was already attached to native adjectives such as "good" and "wild" long before the Norman Conquest. English speakers could add it to nearly any adjective, which is why it remains productive: new formations like this one can be coined whenever a writer needs a noun for a quality that the adjective names.

Synonyms: absence, nonattendance, lack, unavailability, void

Antonyms: presence, attendance, availability, existence, existence