n A person who is absent from his or her employment, school, post, duty, etc. (defdate|First attested around 1350 to 1470.)(reference-book | last =| first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | editor =Brown, Lesley | others = | title = The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary | origdate = | origyear = 1933| origmonth = | url = | format = | accessdate = | accessyear = | accessmonth = | edition = 5th | date = | year =2003| month = | publisher =Oxford University Press | location =Oxford, UK | language = | id = | doi = | isbn =978-0-19-860575-7 | lccn = | ol = | pages =8| chapter = | chapterurl = | quote =)
n (context|chiefly|British|historical) A landholder who lives in another district or country than the one in which his estate is situated. (defdate|First attested in the early 17th century.)
n One that is nonextistent or lacking.
n A voter that is not present at the time of voting; absentee voter. (defdate|First attested in the early 20th century.)
a (attributive) Pertaining to one that is absent. (defdate|First attested in the mid 19th century.)