absentee

From absent +‎ -ee.

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌæb.sn̩ˈti/
• Rhymes: -iː

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

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]

   At roll-call there were three absentees.

   1. (attributive) Designating a person absent in a particular capacity, sometimes implying that they are difficult to contact, unresponsive, avoiding their responsibilities, etc. [First attested in the mid 19^th century.]^[1]

      absentee father; absentee landlord; absentee freeholder

   2. (law) A person who is absent from their residence and usual environment, and has not been seen or heard from for some period of time, so that it is unknown whether they are still alive, for the purpose of civil law dealing with the management of property etc. in such cases.
2. Something that is not present where it might be expected.

   The manufacturer's promised new model was a notable absentee at the car show.

3. (attributive) Designating something whose owner, person responsible, etc. is absent.

   absentee ballot, absentee property

   • 2024 March 17, Daniel Medina and Bob Ortega, “Emails show how a right-wing group steers GOP leaders on major policy issues”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     In Wyoming, a GOP state senator forwarded an FGA draft bill to Secretary of State Chuck Gray that would prohibit sending out unsolicited absentee ballot request forms.

4. (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 17^th 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!

5. A voter who is not present at the time of voting; absentee voter. [First attested in the early 20^th century.]^[1]
   • 2020 September 14, Richard H. Pildes, “The three words that can avert an election nightmare”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     In recent primaries, for example, nearly 4% of absentees were rejected in Philadelphia; 8% in Kentucky; and 20% in parts of New York City.

• absenteeism

• Noah Webster (1828), “absentee”, in An American Dictionary of the English Language: […], volume I (A–I), New York, N.Y.: […] S. Converse; printed by Hezekiah Howe […], →OCLC.
• “absentee”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “absentee”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.