absència

Absència is the Catalan noun that denotes the state of not being present or the lack of something that is expected or required. It can refer to someone’s absence from a place, to the nonexistence of an entity, or to the deficiency of a quality or event. In everyday Catalan, absència is used similarly to the English word absence and is contrasted with presència, the state of being present.

Origin and cognates: Absència comes from Latin absentia, from abesse “to be away.” The Catalan form shares roots with related terms in other Romance languages, such as Spanish ausencia, French absence, and Italian assenza.

Usage and contexts: In education and work, absència appears in attendance records, for example: “L’alumne té diverses absències aquest trimestre.” In social, cultural, and literary contexts, absència can indicate nonparticipation, missing elements, or absence as a thematic or philosophical concept—such as absence of presence, memory, or identity. The term can carry nuanced distinctions from synonyms like falta (lack) or no ensència in some regional usages, depending on the intended nuance.

See also and related terms: Absència is part of a family of terms expressing nonexistence or nonparticipation in Romance languages, such as absentia in Latin-derived phrases and the English term absence. In philosophy and linguistics, absence is often discussed as a concept related to presence, reference, and negation.