absentee

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: absentée

English

[edit]
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

[edit]

From absent +‎ -ee.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

absentee (plural absentees)

  1. A person who is absent from his or her employment, school, post, duty, etc. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][1]
  2. (chiefly British, historical) A landholder who lives in another district or country than the one in which his estate is situated. [First attested in the early 17th century.][1]
    • 1840, Lord Byron, “Letter 374: to Mr. Moore (24 May 1820)”, in John Murray, editor, The Works of Lord Byron: With His Letters and Journals, and His Life, page 317:
      My trustees are going to lend Earl Blessington sixty thousand pounds (at six per cent.) on a Dublin mortgage. Only think of my becoming an Irish absentee!
  3. One that is nonexistent or lacking.
  4. A voter that is not present at the time of voting; absentee voter. [First attested in the early 20th century.][1]

Derived terms

[edit]
[edit]

Translations

[edit]

Adjective

[edit]

absentee (not comparable)

  1. (attributive) Pertaining to someone who is absent, for example does not live in the relevant local area, sometimes implying that they are difficult to contact, unresponsive, avoiding their responsibilities, etc. [First attested in the mid 19th century.][1]
    absentee father, absentee landlord, absentee freeholder

Translations

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “absentee”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 8.