Where does “absence” come from?
absence (Old French) comes from Latin absentia, from Latin absēns, from Latin absum, from Latin ab-, from Latin āb, from Proto-Germanic *ab, from Proto-Indo-European apó.
Ancestry of “absence”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | absentia | absence |
| 2 | Latin | absēns | — |
| 3 | Latin | absum | I am away, I am absent, I am distant |
| 4 | Latin | ab- | from, away, away from; off; at a distance |
| 5 | Latin | āb | — |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | *ab | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | apó | — |
Words derived from “absence”