absence
/ˈæb.s(ə)n̩s/
"absence" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“absence” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,996 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #3,996
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A state of being away or withdrawn from a place or from companionship
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | absence |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈæb.s(ə)n̩s/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #3,996 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “absence” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for absence is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈæb.s(ə)n̩s/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,996 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for absence, with forms such as "abbsence", "abesnce", and "absance". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "absent", "absentee", "ambience", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó Proto-Italic *ap Latin abder. Latin ab- Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésmi Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- Proto-Indo-European *bʰúHt Proto-Italic *som~*ezom Latin sum Latin absum Latin absēns Proto-I… The correct English form is absence, spelled A-B-S-E-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1A state of being away or withdrawn from a place or from companionship
- 2The period of someone being away.
- 3Failure to be present where one is expected, wanted, or needed; nonattendance; deficiency.
- 4Lack; deficiency; non-existence.
- 5Inattention to things present; abstraction (of mind).
- 6Temporary loss or disruption of consciousness, with sudden onset and recovery, and common in epilepsy.
- 7Lack of contact between blades.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó Proto-Italic *ap Latin abder. Latin ab- Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésmi Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- Proto-Indo-European *bʰúHt Proto-Italic *som~*ezom Latin sum Latin absum Latin absēns Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Latin absentiader. Old French absencebor. Middle English absence English absence From Middle English absence, from Old French absence, ausence, from Latin absentia, from absēns (“absent”), present active participle of absum (“to be away or absent”), from ab (“from, away from”) + sum (“to be”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: abbsence,abesnce,absance,absecne,absencce,absenec,absennce,absnece,abssence,asbence,basence
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of absence - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "absence"?
What does "absence" mean?
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Using “absence”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-B-S-E-N-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈæb.s(ə)n̩s/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “absent” - see the side-by-side comparison. absence vs absent
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.