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Glite Dictionary
in absentia

in absentia

8 8.7
While not present when a court or other people make a decision about you
  • idiom
  • /ɪn æbˈsɛnʃə/
  • Formal
translation icon : en ausencia
  • In Italy, two dozen CIA agents have been convicted in absentia for kidnapping a man to torture him.
  • trial in absentia
  • try these leaders in absentia

So we, we received our Grammy in in absentia.

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Examples

  • In a session that took less time than his trip to the French border, he was sentenced to death in absentia.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Two of the officers have disappeared and have been charged in absentia.

    Blog text (13)

  • First, he was arrested in absentia on 20 August.

    Blog text (31)

  • The trial took place in December, and he was found guilty in absentia, outlawed from ever returning under penalty of imprisonment.

    Blog text (3)

  • To my shock, I was elected, in absentia, to write this epic broadside and get it mimeographed at the school.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • But unlike Nuremberg, it did not authorize the trial of defendants in absentia, but required that they be tried in their own presence.

    Academic text (1994)

  • In 2012, he was convicted in absentia and sentenced to death, along with his son-in-law Ahmed Qahtan.

    Academic text (2015)

  • Martin Bormann, Hitler's aide, was tried in absentia after disappearing.

    Academic text (1993)

  • France, in fact, was preparing at that very moment to try six Libyans in absentia for the bombing of a French UTA plane over Niger in 1989, at a cost of 171 lives.

    Academic text (1999)

  • The court sentenced him to five years in prison in absentia after he failed to appear for the trial.

Antonyms

present
392 1.0

Being in a place or at an event

in person
271 1.6

To be present at a place rather than by phone or online

Surface Forms

in absentia positive

Morphology

in + absentia

The phrase is a literal composition of 'in' + 'absentia' (absence), so a learner who knows the constituents can infer 'while not present' directly; it parallels the English paraphrase 'in absence' and similar forms in other languages. Although 'absentia' is a Latin borrowing and somewhat formal/rare in everyday speech, the semantic relation is transparent and predictable from the parts.

Etymology

In absentia comes from old courts and universities where decisions, like a trial sentence or a degree, were given when the person was not there. It literally means 'in absence', so today it is used to say someone was judged or honoured 'while not present'.