Etymograph

English

absent

Absent comes from Latin absēns ‘absent, missing, away, away from, distant,…’, from sum ‘to be, exist’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to be, become, grow, appear’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-1‘to be, become, grow, appear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰúHt1‘to become’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ezom~*som1reconstructed
  4. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCE𐌄𐌔𐌏𐌌1esom
  5. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEesum1
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsum1‘to be, exist’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEabsum1‘to be away from’
  8. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEabsēns1‘absent, missing, away, away from, distant, gone, gone away’next step skipped: Old French ausentpresent participle of absum
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500absent1
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1623absent1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English absent
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1623, William Shakespeare, All’s Well That Ends Well: “Expecting absent friends.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-Wiktionary, English absent‘to be, become, grow, appear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰúHtWiktionary, English absent‘to become’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ezom~*somWiktionary, English absentreconstructed
  4. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCE𐌄𐌔𐌏𐌌Wiktionary, English absentesom
  5. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEesumWiktionary, English absent
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsumWiktionary, English absent‘to be, exist’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEabsumWiktionary, English absent‘to be away from’
  8. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEabsēnsWiktionary, English absent‘absent, missing, away, away from, distant, gone, gone away’next step skipped: Old French ausentpresent participle of absum
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500absentWiktionary, English absent
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1623absentWiktionary, English absent. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1623, William Shakespeare, All’s Well That Ends Well: “Expecting absent friends.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to be, become, grow, appear’

be, been, build, physical, bond, bush, bound, contribution, physician, booth, probability, distribute, favorable, fiat, bun, contributor, bouquet, retribution, attribution, favourable, imp, rebuke, bower, beamer, bosque, aren, physic, phylum, phylogeny, approbation, boor, bist, futur, 75 more

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰúHt ‘to become’

power, possible, bondage, impossibility, impotent, busk, 13 more

through Archaic Latin 𐌄𐌔𐌏𐌌

representation, 8 more

through Old Latin esum

represent, presentation, 9 more

through Latin sum ‘to be, exist’

future, improve, proud, present, pride, presence, approve, essential, entity, prowess, prude, prow, 14 more

Another origin of absent

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-‘to be, become, grow, appear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰúHt‘to become’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ezom~*somreconstructed
  4. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCE𐌄𐌔𐌏𐌌esom
  5. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEesum
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsum‘to be’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEabsum‘to be away, to be absent, to be distant’
  8. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEabsēns‘absent, missing, away, away from, distant, gone, gone away’
  9. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEabsentoas absentāre‘keep away, be away’
  10. Old Frenchc. 842–1400absenter
  11. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500absenten
  12. Englishtodayabsent

Today it means

adj Being away from a place; withdrawn from a place; existing but not present; (sometimes) missing.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “absent”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- / absent

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