different between without vs absence

English

Alternative forms

• withoute (archaic); wythoute, wythowt (obsolete), wythowte (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English withoute, withouten, from Old English wiþ?tan (literally “against the outside of”); equivalent to with +? out. Compare Dutch buiten (“outside of, without”), Danish uden (“without”), Swedish utan (“without”), Norwegian uten (“without”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /w???a?t/, /w?ð?a?t/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): [w?????t], [w?ð???t]
• Hyphenation: with?out

Adverb

without (not comparable)

1. (archaic or literary) Outside, externally. This is still used in the names of some civil parishes in England, e.g. St Cuthbert Without.
   • c.1600s, William Shakespeare, Macbeth

     Macbeth: There's blood upon your face

     Murderer: 'tis Banquo's then

     Macbeth: 'tis better thee without then he within.

   • 1900, Ernest Dowson, Benedictio Domini, lines 13-14

     Strange silence here: without, the sounding street

     Heralds the world's swift passage to the fire

   • 1904, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez (Norton 2005, p.1100)

     I knew that someone had entered the house cautiously from without.

   • 2019 December 8, Supergirl (TV series), season 5, episode 8, "Crisis on Infinite Earths":

     Brainiac: This earthquake is quite literally worldwide.

     Alex Danvers: But the seismic activity [isn't] coming from within the planet, it's coming from without.

2. Lacking something.

   Being from a large, poor family, he learned to live without.

3. (euphemistic) In prostitution: without a condom being worn.

Derived terms

• a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle
• St Cuthbert Without
• Wokingham Without

Preposition

without

1. (archaic or literary) Outside of, beyond.

   Antonym: within

   • Without the gate / Some drive the cars, and some the coursers rein.

   • c. 1689, Thomas Burnet, The Sacred Theory of the Earth

     Eternity, before the world and after, is without our reach.

   • 1967, Paul McCartney (writer), The Beatles, Sgt Pepper

     Life goes on within you and without you.

2. Not having, containing, characteristic of, etc.

   Antonym: with

   • One day my dreams were surely dying, dying, dying baby
     Just like a flower without rain
3. Not doing or not having done something.
   • 1883, Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Chapter V

     But in the meantime Robin Hood and his band lived quietly in Sherwood Forest, without showing their faces abroad, for Robin knew that it would not be wise for him to be seen in the neighborhood of Nottingham, those in authority being very wroth with him.

Synonyms

• lacking, outwith, with no, -less, w/o, sans, -free

Antonyms

• (outside): within
• (not having): with, having, characteristic of, endowed with

Derived terms

• withoutness
• without trace, without a trace

Translations

Conjunction

without

1. (archaic or dialectal) Unless, except (introducing a clause).
   • 1913, DH Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, Penguin, 2006, p.264:

     ‘Why,’ he blurted, ‘because they say I've no right to come up like this—without we mean to marry—’

Anagrams

• outwith

English

Alternative forms

• abs.

Etymology

From Middle English absence, from Old French absence, ausence, from Latin absentia, from abs?ns (“absent”), present active participle of absum (“I am away or absent”), from ab (“from, away from”) + sum (“I am”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?æb.s(?)n?s/, /?æb.s(?)n?ts/
• (General American)
  • IPA^(key): /?æb.s(?)n?s/, /?æb.sn?ts/
  • (in the medical sense) IPA^(key): /?æbs?ns/, /æb?s?ns/

Noun

absence (usually uncountable, plural absences)

1. A state of being away or withdrawn from a place or from companionship

2. The period of someone being away. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
3. Failure to be present where one is expected, wanted, or needed; nonattendance; deficiency. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
4. Lack; deficiency; nonexistence. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
   • 1826, James Kent, Commentaries on American Law

     in the absence of higher and more authoritative sanctions the ordinances of foreign states, the opinions of eminent statesmen, and the writings of distinguished jurists, are regarded as of great consideration on questions not settled by conventional law

5. Inattention to things present; abstraction (of mind). [First attested in the early 18^th century.]

   • Reflecting on the little absences and distractions of mankind.
6. (medicine) Temporary loss or disruption of consciousness, with sudden onset and recovery, and common in epilepsy. [First attested in the mid 20^th century.]
7. (fencing) Lack of contact between blades.

Synonyms

• missingness

Antonyms

• (state of being away): presence
• (lack, deficiency, nonexistence): existence, possession, sufficiency

Derived terms

• absence makes the heart grow fonder

Related terms

• absent
• absentee
• absenteeism
• absential

Translations

References

Anagrams

• casbene

Czech

Etymology

From French absence, from Latin absentia, from abs?ns (“absent”), present active participle of absum (“I am away or absent”), from ab (“of, by, from”) + sum (“I am”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?aps?nt?s?]

Noun

absence f

1. absence

Declension

Related terms

• See esence

Further reading

• absence in P?íru?ní slovník jazyka ?eského, 1935–1957
• absence in Slovník spisovného jazyka ?eského, 1960–1971, 1989

Danish

Etymology

From French absence.

Noun

absence c (singular definite absencen, plural indefinite absencer)

1. (medicine) petit mal

Inflection

Synonyms

• petit mal

References

• “absence” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

From Latin absentia, from abs?ns (“absent”), present active participle of absum (“I am away or absent”), from ab (“of, by, from”) + sum (“I am”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ap.s??s/

Noun

absence f (plural absences)

1. absence (state of being absent or withdrawn)

Derived terms

Related terms

• absent

Descendants

• ? Czech: absence
• ? Danish: absence
• ? German: Absence
• ? Luxembourgish: Absence

Further reading

• “absence” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Middle English

Etymology

From Old French absence, ausence, from Latin absentia, from abs?ns (“absent”), present active participle of absum (“I am away or absent”), from ab (“of, by, from”) + sum (“I am”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ab?s?ns(?)/

Noun

absence (plural absences)

1. Being away or elsewhere; absence.
2. Nonattendance or nonexistence; failure to appear.

Related terms

• absent

Descendants

• English: absence
• Scots: absence

References

• Stratmann, Francis Henry; Henry Bradley (First published 1891) A Dictionary of Middle English?^[2], London: Oxford University Press, published 1954, page 3