in absentia

prepositional phrase

While not present; while absent

“The defendant was convicted in absentia after fleeing during the trial.”

OriginLatin in absentia ← ['la ', →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. lawWhile not present; while absent

    The defendant was convicted in absentia after fleeing during the trial.

    1 more example

    The first chancellor of West Germany, Conrad Adenauer […] continued to keep Hans Globke as his secretary of the chancellery despite protests. […] Even after an East German court indicted Globke in absentia in 1950, Adenauer would not budge.

    2004 October 28, Leslie Feinberg, “Denazification in socialist Germany opened door to gay rights”, in Workers World
  2. possiblyproscribedtransferred senseAbsent in general; not present.

    Since then, the ex-minister has been in absentia, likely relaxing on his private yacht.

    1 more example

    At Sora’s involuntary acknowledgment of their crew currently in absentia, Shiro nodded.

    2016, Yuu Kamiya, translated by Daniel Komen, No Game No Life, volume 4

Origin

  1. ['la',
  2. Latinin absentia
  3. Englishin absentia

Learned borrowing from Latin in absentia (“in absence”).

More words from Latin, ['la

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic غِيَابًا
  • غِيَابًا (ḡiyāban)while not present
Chinese Mandarin 缺席
  • 缺席 (quēxí)while not present
Dutch in absentia, bij afwezigheid
  • in absentiawhile not present
  • bij afwezigheidwhile not present
  • bij verstekwhile not present
Finnish poissaolevana
  • poissaolevanawhile not present
French par contumace
  • par contumacewhile not present
German in Abwesenheit
  • in Abwesenheitwhile not present
Greek ερήμην
  • ερήμην (erímin)while not present
Hungarian távollétében
  • távollétébenwhile not present
Icelandic í fjarveru, að fjarstöddum
  • í fjarveruwhile not present
  • að fjarstöddumwhile not present
Indonesian in absentia
  • in absentiawhile not present
Polish in absentia
  • in absentiawhile not present
Russian зао́чно, в отсу́тствие
  • зао́чно (zaóčno)while not present
  • в отсу́тствие (v otsútstvije)while not present
Turkish gıyaben
  • gıyabenwhile not present
Cite this entry
APA

in absentia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20absentia

MLA

“in absentia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20absentia. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in absentia,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20absentia.

Source: in absentia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.