absence (absens)

[ Say, is not absence death to those who love? Pope, Autumn, We see on the lip of our companion the presence or absence of the great masters of thought and poetry to his Emerson, Domestic Life. mind. 2. The period of being away or absent: as, an absence of several weeks or years.-3. The state of being wanting; non-existence at the place and time spoken of; want; lack: as, the absence of evidence. In the absence of conventional law. Chancellor Kent. 4. Absent-mindedne ; inattention to things present: a shortened form of absence of mind. To conquer that abstraction which is called absence , Landor . For two or three days I continued subject to frequent involuntary fits of absence, which made me insensible, for the time, to all that was pa ing around me. B. Taylor , Lands of the Saracen, p. 147. Absence of mind, habitual or temporary forgetfulne of, or inattention to, one's immediate surroundings.Decree in absence, in Scots law, a decree pronounced against a defendant who has not appeared and pleaded on the merits of the cause. - Leave of absence, permi ion from a superior to be absent. In the United States army an officer is entitled to 30 days' leave in each year on full pay. He may permit this time to accumulate for a period not exceeding four years. Wilhelm, Mil. Dict.