Etymology

absently

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Today it means: In an absent-minded or abstracted manner. Full definition →

First used the late 18ᵗʰ century.English absent ← Middle English absent ← Latin absēns
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The story

  1. Latinabsum
  2. Latinabsēns
  3. Old Frenchausent
  4. Middle Frenchabsent
  5. Latinabsēns
  6. Middle Englishabsent
  7. Englishabsent
  8. English todayabsently

From absent + -ly.

First known use, by meaning

  • From the late 18ᵗʰ century. In an absent-minded or abstracted manner.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.