Nil vs Absent - What's the difference?
nil | absent |
Nothing; zero.
* 1946 , (Bertrand Russell), History of Western Philosophy , I.19:
No, not any.
* 1982 , Gavin Lyall, Conduct of Major Maxim , Hodder & Stoughton Ltd:
(not comparable) Being away from a place; withdrawn from a place; not present; missing.
* 1623 , (William Shakespeare), All’s Well That Ends Well, II-iii
(not comparable) Not existing; lacking.
(sometimes, comparable) Inattentive to what is passing; absent-minded; preoccupied.
* 1746-1747 , Chesterfield, Letters to his Son
(legal) In the absence of; without.
* 1919 , State vs. Britt, Supreme Court of Missouri, Division 2, in The Southwestern Reporter , page 427
* 2011 , David Elstein, letter, London Review of Books , XXXIII.15:
(transitive, now, reflexive) Keep away; stay away; go away.
*
* 1701-1703 , , "Remarks on Italy"
*
(obsolete) Stay away; withdraw.
(rare) Leave.
As an initialism nil
is (nanotechnology) (nanoimprint lithography).As an adjective absent is
(not comparable) being away from a place; withdrawn from a place; not present; missing .As a noun absent is
(obsolete) absentee; a person who is away on occasion .As a preposition absent is
(legal) in the absence of; without .As a verb absent is
(transitive|now|reflexive) keep away; stay away; go away .nil
English
Noun
(en noun)- As to Aristotle's influence on him, we are left free to conjecture whatever seems to us most plausible. For my part, I should suppose it nil .
Determiner
(en determiner)- But after two or three hours and nil results, you have to accept that the trail is cold and you can't justify that level of manpower.
See also
* null * nil desperandumAnagrams
* English terms derived from Latin ----absent
English
Alternative forms
*Etymology 1
* From (etyl) absent, (etyl) .Adjective
(er)- Expecting absent friends.
- The part was rudimental or absent .
- What is commonly called an absent man is commonly either a very weak or a very affected man.
Antonyms
* presentPreposition
(English prepositions)- If the accused refuse upon demand to pay money or deliver property (absent any excuse or excusing circumstance) which came into his hands as a bailee, such refusal might well constitute some evidence of conversion, with the requisite fraudulent intent required by the statute.
- the Princess Caroline case [...] established that – absent a measurable ‘public interest’ in publication – she was safe from being photographed while out shopping.
Etymology 2
From (etyl) absenter, from .Verb
(en verb)- Go; for thy stay, not free, absents thee more;
- If after due summons any member absents himself, he is to be fined.
- This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half.