verbirregular conjugation, suppletive, no passive, no supine stem except in the future active participle, no gerund
absum
absum (present infinitive abesse, perfect active āfuī, future active participle āfutūrus)
Classical[ˈap.sũː]Ecclesiastical[ˈab.sum]
№ 445 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- suppletiveto be away, to be absent, to be distant
‘Nusquam aberō, et tūtum patriō tē līmine sistam.’
“‘I will never be distant [from you], and will set you safe at your father's doorstep.’” (Venus reassures her son, Aeneas.)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 2.620 - suppletiveto stretch, be away from, be distant from (with ab + ablative)
Hic locus aequō ferē spatiō ab castrīs Ariovistī et Caesaris aberat.
This position was placed at an almost equal distance from Ariovist's and Caesar's camp.c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico libre I.chapter 43 - suppletiveto be forbidden, be unpleasant, unwarranted for, vile
Sī enim, quod absit, verba eius postpōnitis, quandō eum omnipotēns Deus poterit audīre prō vōbīs, quem vōs neglegitis audīre prō Deō?
If in fact, and God forbid! you scorn his teachings, when God omnipotent were to hear him in your favor, would you neglect hearing him as messenger of our God?c. 731 CE, Beda Presbyter, Historia ecclesiastica libre I.capitulum 32
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
quī abest; absentēs amīcōs memoriā tenēmus.absēns absentis — in Mille Verba, Castra in Aegyptō
procul sum, nōn adsum; mīles ā patriā abest.absum abesse āfuī — in Mille Verba, Castra in Aegyptō
procul sumbe absent, be distant
absum, abesse, āfuī — in De Bello Gallico II, ch. 2, 3, 5 and De Bello Gallico III
nē fīat! procul sit!absit — in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, ch. 14
is gone
abest — in Viri Romae Facillimi, ch. 4
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Abesse · Deesse · Deficere
1. Abesse denotes absence as a local relation, ‘to be away’ from a place; but deesse denotes an absence by which a thing is rendered incomplete, and means ‘to fail,’ ‘to be wanting,’ in opp. to esse and superesse. Cic. Brut. 80. Calidio hoc unum, si nihil utilitatis habebat, abfuit, si opus erat, defuit. 2. Deesse denotes a completed (i.e. already existing), deficere a commencing state. Cic. Verr. i. 11. Vererer ne oratio deesset, ne vox viresque deficerent. (v. 339.)
Conjugation future irregular no supine
| form | present | imperfect | future | perfect | pluperfect | fut. perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | absum | aberam | aberō | āfuī | āfueram | āfuerō |
| 2nd sg. | abes | aberās | aberis abere | āfuistī | āfuerās | āfueris |
| 3rd sg. | abest | aberat | aberit | āfuit | āfuerat | āfuerit |
| 1st pl. | absumus | aberāmus | aberimus | āfuimus | āfuerāmus | āfuerimus |
| 2nd pl. | abestis | aberātis | aberitis | āfuistis | āfuerātis | āfueritis |
| 3rd pl. | absunt | aberant | aberunt | āfuērunt āfuēre | āfuerant | āfuerint |
active subjunctive
| form | present | imperfect | perfect | pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | absim absiem, āfuam | abessem āforem | āfuerim | āfuissem |
| 2nd sg. | absīs absiēs, āfuās | abessēs āforēs | āfuerīs | āfuissēs |
| 3rd sg. | absit absiet, āfuat | abesset āforet | āfuerit | āfuisset |
| 1st pl. | absīmus absiēmus, āfuāmus | abessēmus āforēmus | āfuerīmus | āfuissēmus |
| 2nd pl. | absītis absiētis, āfuātis | abessētis āforētis | āfuerītis | āfuissētis |
| 3rd pl. | absint absient, āfuant | abessent āforent | āfuerint | āfuissent |
imperative
| form | active | passive |
|---|---|---|
| pres. 2nd sg. | abes | — |
| pres. 2nd pl. | abeste | — |
| fut. 2nd sg. | abestō | — |
| fut. 3rd sg. | abestō | — |
| fut. 2nd pl. | abestōte | — |
| fut. 3rd pl. | absuntō | — |
infinitives & participles
| form | active | passive |
|---|---|---|
| present infinitive | abesse | — |
| perfect infinitive | āfuisse | — |
| future infinitive | āfutūrum esse āfore, abfore | — |
| present participle | absēns absente, absentem, absentēs, absentī, absentia, absentibus, absentis, absentīs, absentium | — |
| future participle | āfutūrus āfutūra, āfutūrā, āfutūrae, āfutūram, āfutūrārum, āfutūrās, āfutūre, āfutūrī, āfutūrīs, āfutūrō, āfutūrōrum, āfutūrōs, āfutūrum | — |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- abesse a culpa
- to be free from blame.
- prope abesse a culpa
- to be almost culpable.
- longe, procul abesse ab urbe
- to be far from town.
- quod abominor! (procul absit!)
- God forbid!
- prope (propius, proxime) abesse
- to be not far away.
- quinque annos or sextum (iam) annum abest
- he has been absent five years.
- ab omni cultu et humanitate longe abesse (B. G. 1. 1. 3)
- to be quite uncivilised.
ab-sum, āfui (better than abfui), āfŭtārus (aforem, afore), v. n., in its most general signif.,
I. to be away from, be absent.
I. In gen.
A. Absol. without designating the distance (opp. adsum):
num ab domo absum? Plaut. Ep. 5, 2, 16: me absente atque insciente, id. Trin. 1, 2, 130: domini ubi absunt, are not at home, not present, Ter. Eun. 3, 5, 53: facile aerumnam ferre possum, si inde abest injuria, Caecil. ap. Non. 430, 18.—B. With reference to the distance in space or time; which is expressed either by a definite number, or, in gen., by the advs. multum, paulum (not parum, v. below) longe, etc.:
edixit, ut ab urbe abesset milia pass. ducenta, Cic. Sest. 12, 29: castra, quae aberant bidui, id. Att. 5, 16: hic locus aequo fere spatio ab castris Ariovisti et Caesaris aberat, Caes. B. G. 1, 43: haud longe abesse oportet, he ought not to be far hence, Plaut. Am. 1, 1, 166: legiones magnum spatium aberant, Caes. B. G. 2, 17: menses tres abest, Ter. Heaut. 1, 1, 66: haud permultum a me aberit infortunium, Ter. Heaut. 4, 2, 1; Cic. Fam. 2, 7.—With the simple abl. for ab: paulumque cum ejus villa abessemus, Cic. Ac. 1, 1 Görenz; but, ab ejus villa, B. and K.; cf.: nuptā abesse tuā, Ov. R. Am. 774.— With inter: nec longis inter se passibus absunt, Verg. A. 11, 907.—With prope, propius, proxime, to denote a short distance: nunc nobis prope abest exitium, is not far from, Plaut. Aul. 2, 3, 8; so with est: prope est a te Deus, tecum est, Sen. Ep. 41: loca, quae a Brundisio propius absunt, quam tu, biduum, Cic. Att. 8, 14: quoniam abes propius, since you are nearer, id. ib. 1, 1: existat aliquid, quod ... absit longissime a vero, id. Ac. 2, 11, 36; so id. Deiot. 13; Caes. ap. Cic. Att. 9, 16 al.—Hence the phrase: tantum abest, ut—ut, so far from —that, etc. (Zumpt, § 779), the origin of which is evident from the following examples from Cic. (the first two of which have been unjustly assailed): id tantum abest ab officio, ut nihil magis officio possit esse contrarium, Off. 1, 14 (with which comp. the person. expression: equidem tantum absum ab ista sententia, ut non modo non arbitrer ... sed, etc., id. de Or. 1, 60, 255): tantum abest ab eo, ut malum mors sit, ut verear, ne, etc., id. Tusc. 1, 31, 76: ego vero istos tantum abest ut ornem, ut effici non possit, quin eos oderim, so far am I from—that, id. Phil. 11, 14; sometimes etiam or quoque is added to the second clause, Lentul. ap. Cic. Fam. 12, 15, 2; Suet. Tib. 50; more rarely contra, Liv. 6, 31, 4. Sometimes the second ut is left out: tantum afuit, ut inflammares nostros animos: somnum isto loco vix tenebamus, Cic. Brut. 80, 278; on the contrary, once in Cic. with a third ut: tantum abest ut nostra miremur, ut usque eo difficiles ac morosi simus, ut nobis non satisfaciat ipse Demosthenes, Or. 29, 104.II. Hence,
A. To be away from any thing unpleasant, to be freed or free from:
a multis et magnis molestiis abes, Cic. Fam. 4, 3: a culpa, id. Rosc. Am. 20: a reprehensione temeritatis, Planc. ap. Cic. Fam. 10, 23.B. To be removed from a thing by will, inclination, etc.; to be disinclined to (syn. abhorreo)' a consilio fugiendi, Cic. Att. 7, 24:
ab istis studiis, id. Planc. 25: ceteri a periculis aberant, kept aloof from, avoided, Sall. C. 6, 3. toto aberant bello, Caes. B. G. 7, 63.C. To be removed from a thing in regard to condition or quality, i. e. to be different from, to differ = abhorrere abest a tua virtute et fide, Brut. et Cass. ap. Cic. Fam. 11, 2: istae κολακεῖαι non longe absunt a scelere, id. Att. 13, 30:
haec non absunt a consuetudine somniorum, id. Divin. 1, 21, 42.—Since improvement, as well as deterioration, may constitute the ground of difference, so absum may, according to its connection, designate the one or the other: nullā re longius absumus a naturā ferarum, in nothing are we more elevated above the nature of the brute, Cic. Off. 1, 16, 50; so also the much-contested passage, Cic. Planc. 7, 17: longissime Plancius a te afuit, i. e. valde, plurimis suffragiis, te vicit, was far from you in the number of votes, i. e. had the majority; v. Wunder ad Planc. proleg. p. 83 sq.; on the other hand, to be less, inferior: longe te a pulchris abesse sensisti, Cic. Fragm. ap. Non. 339, 23: multum ab eis aberat L. Fufius, id. Brut. 62, 222; so Hor. A. P. 370.D. Not to be suitable, proper, or fit for a thing:
quae absunt ab forensi contentione, Cic. Or. 11, 37: ab principis personā, Nep. Ep. 1, 2.E. To be wanting, = desum, Pac. ap. Cic. Fin. 5, 11, 31 (Trag. Rel. p. 122 Rib.):
unum a praeturā tuā abest, one thing is wanting to your praetorship, Plaut. Ep. 1, 1, 25: quaeris id quod habes; quod abest non quaeris, Ter. Heaut. 5, 4, 16; cf. Lucr. 3, 970 and 1095.—After Cicero, constr. in this signif. with dat.: quid huic abesse poterit de maximarum rerum scientiā? Cic. de Or. 1, 11, 48: abest enim historia litteris nostris, history is yet wanting to our literature, id. Leg. 2, 5.—So esp. in the poets: donec virenti canities abest morosa, Hor. C. 1, 9, 17; 3, 24, 64; Ov. M. 14, 371.—Hence the phrase non multum (neque multum), paulum, non (haud) procul, minimum, nihil abest, quin. not much, little, nothing is wanting that (Zumpt, Gr. § 540); but not parum, since parum in good classical authors does not correspond in meaning with non multum, but with non satis (v. parum): neque multum abesse ab eo, quin, etc., Caes. B. G. 5, 2, 2; and absol.: neque multum afuit quin, id. B. C. 2, 35, 4: paulumque afuit quin, ib. § 2: legatos nostros haud procul afuit quin violarent, Liv. 5, 4 fin.: minimum afuit quin periret, was within a little of, Suet. Aug. 14: nihil afore credunt quin, Verg. A. 8, 147 al.F. Abesse alicui or ab aliquo, to be wanting to any one, to be of no assistance or service to (opp. adsum):
ut mirari Torquatus desinat, me, qui Antonio afuerim, Sullam defendere, Cic. Sull. 5: facile etiam absentibus nobis (without our aid) veritas se ipsa defendet, id. Ac. 2, 11, 36: longe iis fraternum nomen populi Romani afuturum, Caes. B. G. 1, 36. So also Cic. Planc. 5, 13: et quo plus intererat, eo plus aberas a me, the more I needed your assistance, the more you neglected me, v. Wunder ad h. l.; cf. also Sall. C. 20 fin.G. Cicero uses abesse to designate his banishment from Rome (which he would never acknowledge as such):
qui nullā lege abessem, Cic. Sest. 34, 37; cf.: discessus. —Hence, absens, entis (gen. plur. regul. absentium; absentum, Plaut. Stich. 1, 1, 5), P. a., absent (opp. praesens). A. In gen.:
vos et praesentem me curā levatis et absenti magna solatia dedistis, Cic. Brut. 3, 11; so id. Off. 3, 33, 121; Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 17: quocirca (amici) et absentes adsunt et egentes abundant, id. Lael. 7, 23: ut loquerer tecum absens, cum coram id non licet, id. Att. 7, 15: me absente, id. Dom. 3; id. Cael. 50: illo absente, id. Tull. 17; Cic. Verr. 2, 60: absente accusatore, id. ib. 2, 99 al.—Sup.: mente absentissimus, Aug. Conf. 4, 4.—Of things (not thus in Cic.): Romae rus optas, absentem rusticus urbem tollis ad astra, Hor. S. 2, 7, 28; so, Rhodus, id. Ep. 1, 11, 21: rogus, Mart. 9, 77, 8: venti, Stat. Th. 5, 87: imagines rerum absentium, Quint. 6, 2, 29: versus, Gell. 20, 10.—B. In partic.
1. In conversat. lang.
(a). Praesens absens, in one's presence or absence:
postulo ut mihi tua domus te praesente absente pateat, Ter. Eun. 5, 8, 29.—(b). Absente nobis turbatumst, in our absence (so also:
praesente nobis, v. praesens), Ter. Eun. 4, 3, 7; Afran. ap. Non. 76, 19 (Com. Rel. p. 165 Rib.).—2. In polit. lang., not appearing in public canvassings as a competitor:
deligere (Scipio) iterum consul absens, Cic. Rep. 6, 11; so Liv. 4, 42, 1; 10, 22, 9.—4. Ellipt.: absens in Lucanis, absent in Lucania, i. e. absent and in Lucania, Nep. Hann. 5, 3; so id. Att. 8, 6.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
ab-sum āfuī
(not abfuī), āfutūrus (āforem, āfore), abesse, in general, to be away from, be absent: dum abs te absum, T.: qui nullā lege abessem, i. e. since my exile was unlawful: Athenis, N.: hinc abesto, stand off, Ph.: omnia quae absunt, unseen things, Cs.: Unus abest, is missing, V.: nec Teucris addita Iuno Usquam aberit, will ever cease to follow them, V.: barba dum aberat, i. e. until the beard grew, O. —With distance in space or time: ab urbe abesse milia passuum ducenta: longe: procul, S.: cuius aetas a senatoriā gradu longe abesset, was far too young for: a quibus paucorum dierum iter, Cs.: profectus mensīs tris abest, three months ago, T.: nec longis inter se passibus absunt, V.: quod abest longissime, and that is far from the truth: tantum abest ab infamiā, ut, etc.: neque longius abesse quin proximā nocte ... exercitum educat, i. e. nor was the time more remote, Cs.—In the phrase: tantum abest ut ... ut, so far from ... that, etc.: tantum abest ut gratiam quaesisse videar, ut simultates intellegam suscepisse, I am so far from being shown to have courted popularity, that, etc.: tantum abest ab eo, ut malum mors sit, ut verear, ne, etc. — Hence, to be away from, be free from: a culpā: ab eius modi crimine.—To be removed from, be disinclined to: ab istis studiis: tantum aberat a bello, ut, etc., he was so averse to war, that, etc.: ab hoc consilio afuisse, took no part in, Cs.: ceteri a periculis aberant, avoided, S.: paulum a fugā aberant, were almost ready to flee, S.—To be removed from, be different from, differ: qui longissime a te afuit, i. e. had the largest majority: abest virtute Messallae, is far inferior to, H. — To be unsuitable, be inappropriate: scimus musicen abesse ab principis personā, N.—To be wanting: quaeris id quod habes, quod abest non quaeris, T.: nusquam abero, V.: ratus pluribus curam, omnibus afuisse fortunam, that most had been negligent, all unsuccessful, Cu.: Donec virenti canities abest Morosa, H.: curtae nescio quid semper abest rei, H.—Hence with a negative or paulum (not parum), followed by quin, not much, little, nothing is wanting that, etc.: neque multum abesse ab eo, quin, etc., Cs.: paulumque afuit quin, Cs.: legatos haud procul afuit quin violarent, they came very near, L.—Abesse alicui or ab aliquo, to be wanting to, fail, not to help: longe alcui, O.: longe iis fraternum nomen populi R. afuturum, Cs.: quo plus intererat, eo plus aberat (tua virtus) a me, i. e. the more it would have helped me, the more it failed me: iussis mora abesto, O.: nec dextrae erranti deus afuit, V.: remo ut luctamen abesset, so that the rowing was without effort, V.
Origins
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ep
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂epó
- Proto-Italic*ap
- Latinabsum
Latin ab- Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- Proto-Indo-European *-t Proto-Indo-European *bʰúHt Proto-Italic *ezom~*som Archaic Latin 𐌄𐌔𐌏𐌌 (esom) Old Latin esum Latin sum Latin absum From ab- (“from, away”) + sum (“to be”).
Borrowings
- Germanabwesendfrom Old High German abawesen
- GermanAbwesenheitfrom Old High German abawesen
- Norwegian Bokmålabessiv