Borrowed fromLatinabsit(“let (him or her) be absent”), the third-person singular present active subjunctive ofabsum(“be absent”).
absit (pluralabsits)
- (UK) Formal permission to be away from a college for the greater part of the day or more.
1868, George Charles L. Tottenham,Charlie Villars at Cambridge, page198:In the evening, after some difficulty, he persuaded his tutor to give him anabsit to sleep at Huntingdon that night, and drove over there after dinner in a fly with Egerton, Castleton, and Grey.
1983, W. W. Grave,Fitzwilliam College Cambridge, 1869-1969, page53:Another associated matter was the subject of a discussion, on one occasion only, on the effect of anabsit on a student's residence if he used it to be away from Cambridge from Saturday to Monday 'as is allowed at at least one College'.
1992, Eric Lionel Mascall,Saraband: The Memoirs of E.L. Mascall,→ISBN, page56:An exeat was needed to be away for the night and, in theory at least, anabsit for the greater part of the day.
2015, William Manchester,The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill,→ISBN:The following week he wrot her. 'It is a most shameful thing that he should keep me on like this...I am awfully cross because now I am not able to come home for anabsit [overnight leave] on Thursday which I very much wanted to do.'
Borrowed fromAmharicአብሲት(ʾäbsit,“proofing dough”).
absit (pluralabsits)
- A portion of fermenting dough diluted to a paste with water and then cooked.
1987, Larry R. Beuchat,Food and Beverage Mycology,→ISBN, page296:A portion of the fermented paste may be mixed with three parts of water and boiled, resulting in anabsit.
2011, Elke Arendt, Fabio Dal Bello,Gluten-Free Cereal Products and Beverages,→ISBN, page135:The cooking gelatinizes the starch and makes theabsit viscous.
2012, S P Cauvain,Breadmaking: Improving Quality,→ISBN, page764:Anabsit is not made, and the baking is carried out on an open hotplate.
- አብሲት in Abyssinica Dictionary.
absit
- third-personsingularpresentactivesubjunctive ofabsum
