absentee
(æbsənˈtiː)
[f. absent v. + -ee.]
1. a. One who is absent, or away, on any occasion.
| 1537 in Blount Law Dict. (1691), Absentees or des Absentees, was a Parliament so called, held at Dublin, 10 May, 28 H. 8. 1724 Swift Drapier's Lett. vii. Wks. 1761 III. 134 The occasional absentees, for business, health, or diversion. 1850 in Pro. Am. Phil. Soc. V. 160 Sir John Ross, an absentee of four winters. 1872 Daily News Apr. 6 Cabinet Council..was attended by thirteen of the Ministers, the absentees having been Lord Halifax and the Marquis of Hartington. |
b. = absent voter. Also (chiefly U.S.) absentee vote, absentee voter, absentee voting.
| 1925 Hansard Commons Ser. 5, CLXXXIII. 1362 The Territorial Soldier is mentioned [in the Bill] but not the regular soldier, I presume because the regular soldier will come into the class of general absentee. 1932 N.Y. Times, 10 Oct. 2/5 Uniform laws governing absentee voting in the United States were urged today by John F. Costello. Ibid. 29 Oct. 17/2 (headline) Grandmother's ‘Duty’ to Child Wins Fight for Absentee Vote. 1936 Daily Oklahoman (Okla. City) 4 Nov. 12/6 Iowa was the first state to adopt the absentee voter idea. 1957 N.Z. Offic. Year-Bk. 1957 29 An elector may, however, vote as a ‘special voter’... These latter conditions replace the former classes of absentee, postal, and declaration voters. |
2. One who systematically stays away from his country or home; a landlord who lives abroad. (Often used attrib., as an absentee king.)
| 1605 Camden Remains (1637) 189 King Henry the eight..enriched himselfe by the spoyles of Abbayes, by first fruits, tenths, exactions, and absenties in Ireland. 1723 Swift Argt. agst. Bishops Wks. 1761 III. 265 The farmer would be screwed up to the utmost penny by the agents and stewards of absentees. 1838–9 Hallam Hist. Lit. III. iii. iv. §55. 166 The coin of Naples was exhausted by the revenues of absentee proprietors. 1851 H. Martineau Hist. of Peace (1877) III. iv. ix. 36 In 157 benefices, no service was performed, the incumbent being an absentee. 1876 Freeman Norm. Conq. I. vi. 454 The Norwegians preferred a foreign and absentee king. |
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▸ Designating a parent who is frequently or permanently absent from the home and does not participate significantly in the upbringing of his or her children.
| 1860 C. M. Yonge Hopes & Fears I. i. iv. 107 The boy spoke a very odd mixture of Lieschen's German and of English, pervaded by stable slang, and was altogether a curious study of the effects of absentee parents. 1910 A. Brown John Winterbourne's Family 303 She had been known as an absentee mother, and yet, behold, the children were manifestly in greater disorder than before her exile. 1951 M. McLuhan Mech. Bride 76/2 The pattern of maternal concentration on the child as a substitute for an absentee father..remains unchanged. 1998 Sunday Tel. 25 Jan. (Review section) 36/5 She recalled her almost operatically miserable childhood—absentee father, uncaring mother, sexual abuse. |
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▸ absentee ballot N. Amer. a ballot used for absentee voting, typically submitted through the post; a postal vote or ballot.
| 1917 Chicago Daily Tribune 27 Oct. 7/2 [Officials] visited Camp Grant today and completed arrangements for supplying Chicago men who cannot return to vote on Nov. 6 with *absentee ballots. 1965 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 18 Mar. 25/7 A voter who expects to be away from his home riding at the time of an election should vote in that riding by absentee ballot. 2003 H. S. Thompson Kingdom of Fear ii. 83 Only a last-minute fraud with the absentee ballots..prevented a 29-year-old bike-racing freak from becoming mayor of Aspen. |