ab-sum — Lewis & Short
ab-sum, āfui (better than abfui), āfŭtārus (aforem, afore), v. n., in its most general signif.,
I to be away from, be absent.
I In gen.
A Absol. without designating the distance (opp. adsum):
num ab domo absum?Plaut. Ep. 5, 2, 16:
me absente atque insciente,id. Trin. 1, 2, 130:
domini ubi absunt,are not at home, not present, Ter. Eun. 3, 5, 53: facile aerumnam ferre possum, si inde abest injuria, Caecil. ap. Non. 430, 18.—
B With reference to the distance in space or time; which is expressed either by a definite number, or, in gen., by the advs. multum, paulum (not parum, v. below) longe, etc.:
edixit, ut ab urbe abesset milia pass. ducenta,Cic. Sest. 12, 29:
castra, quae aberant bidui,id. Att. 5, 16:
hic locus aequo fere spatio ab castris Ariovisti et Caesaris aberat,Caes. B. G. 1, 43:
haud longe abesse oportet,he ought not to be far hence, Plaut. Am. 1, 1, 166:
legiones magnum spatium aberant,Caes. B. G. 2, 17:
menses tres abest,Ter. Heaut. 1, 1, 66:
haud permultum a me aberit infortunium,Ter. Heaut. 4, 2, 1; Cic. Fam. 2, 7.—With the simple abl. for ab:
paulumque cum ejus villa abessemus,Cic. Ac. 1, 1 Görenz; but, ab ejus villa, B. and K.; cf.:
nuptā abesse tuā,Ov. R. Am. 774.— With inter:
nec longis inter se passibus absunt,Verg. A. 11, 907.—With prope, propius, proxime, to denote a short distance:
nunc nobis prope abest exitium,is not far from, Plaut. Aul. 2, 3, 8;
so with est: prope est a te Deus, tecum est,Sen. Ep. 41:
loca, quae a Brundisio propius absunt, quam tu, biduum,Cic. Att. 8, 14:
quoniam abes propius,since you are nearer, id. ib. 1, 1:
existat aliquid, quod ... absit longissime a vero,id. Ac. 2, 11, 36; so id. Deiot. 13; Caes. ap. Cic. Att. 9, 16 al.—Hence the phrase: tantum abest, ut—ut, so far from —that, etc. (Zumpt, §
779), the origin of which is evident from the following examples from Cic. (the first two of which have been unjustly assailed): id tantum abest ab officio, ut nihil magis officio possit esse contrarium, Off. 1, 14 (with which comp. the person. expression: equidem tantum absum ab ista sententia, ut non modo non arbitrer ... sed, etc.,id. de Or. 1, 60, 255):
tantum abest ab eo, ut malum mors sit, ut verear, ne, etc.,id. Tusc. 1, 31, 76: ego vero istos tantum abest ut ornem, ut effici non possit, quin eos oderim, so far am I from—that, id. Phil. 11, 14; sometimes etiam or quoque is added to the second clause, Lentul. ap. Cic. Fam. 12, 15, 2; Suet. Tib. 50; more rarely contra, Liv. 6, 31, 4. Sometimes the second ut is left out:
tantum afuit, ut inflammares nostros animos: somnum isto loco vix tenebamus,Cic. Brut. 80, 278; on the contrary, once in Cic. with a third ut: tantum abest ut nostra miremur, ut usque eo difficiles ac morosi simus, ut nobis non satisfaciat ipse Demosthenes, Or. 29, 104.
II Hence,
A To be away from any thing unpleasant, to be freed or free from:
a multis et magnis molestiis abes,Cic. Fam. 4, 3:
a culpa,id. Rosc. Am. 20: a reprehensione temeritatis, Planc. ap. Cic. Fam. 10, 23.
B To be removed from a thing by will, inclination, etc.; to be disinclined to (syn. abhorreo)' a consilio fugiendi, Cic. Att. 7, 24:
ab istis studiis,id. Planc. 25:
ceteri a periculis aberant,kept aloof from, avoided, Sall. C. 6, 3. toto aberant bello, Caes. B. G. 7, 63.
C To be removed from a thing in regard to condition or quality, i. e. to be different from, to differ = abhorrere abest a tua virtute et fide, Brut. et Cass. ap. Cic. Fam. 11, 2: istae kolakei=ai non longe absunt a scelere, id. Att. 13, 30:
haec non absunt a consuetudine somniorum,id. Divin. 1, 21, 42.—Since improvement, as well as deterioration, may constitute the ground of difference, so absum may, according to its connection, designate the one or the other:
nullā re longius absumus a naturā ferarum,in nothing are we more elevated above the nature of the brute, Cic. Off. 1, 16, 50;
so also the much-contested passage,Cic. Planc. 7, 17: longissime Plancius a te afuit, i. e. valde, plurimis suffragiis, te vicit, was far from you in the number of votes, i. e. had the majority; v. Wunder ad Planc. proleg. p. 83 sq.; on the other hand, to be less, inferior: longe te a pulchris abesse sensisti, Cic. Fragm. ap. Non. 339, 23:
multum ab eis aberat L. Fufius,id. Brut. 62, 222; so Hor. A. P. 370.
D Not to be suitable, proper, or fit for a thing:
quae absunt ab forensi contentione,Cic. Or. 11, 37:
ab principis personā,Nep. Ep. 1, 2.
E To be wanting, = desum, Pac. ap. Cic. Fin. 5, 11, 31 (Trag. Rel. p. 122 Rib.):
unum a praeturā tuā abest,one thing is wanting to your praetorship, Plaut. Ep. 1, 1, 25: quaeris id quod habes;
quod abest non quaeris,Ter. Heaut. 5, 4, 16; cf. Lucr. 3, 970 and 1095.—After Cicero, constr. in this signif. with dat.:
quid huic abesse poterit de maximarum rerum scientiā?Cic. de Or. 1, 11, 48:
abest enim historia litteris nostris,history is yet wanting to our literature, id. Leg. 2, 5.—So esp. in the poets:
donec virenti canities abest morosa,Hor. C. 1, 9, 17; 3, 24, 64; Ov. M. 14, 371.—Hence the phrase non multum (neque multum), paulum, non (haud) procul, minimum, nihil abest, quin. not much, little, nothing is wanting that (Zumpt, Gr. § 540); but not parum, since parum in good classical authors does not correspond in meaning with non multum, but with non satis (v. parum):
neque multum abesse ab eo, quin, etc.,Caes. B. G. 5, 2, 2; and absol.:
neque multum afuit quin,id. B. C. 2, 35, 4:
paulumque afuit quin, ib. § 2: legatos nostros haud procul afuit quin violarent,Liv. 5, 4 fin.:
minimum afuit quin periret,was within a little of, Suet. Aug. 14:
nihil afore credunt quin,Verg. A. 8, 147 al.
F Abesse alicui or ab aliquo, to be wanting to any one, to be of no assistance or service to (opp. adsum):
ut mirari Torquatus desinat, me, qui Antonio afuerim, Sullam defendere,Cic. Sull. 5: facile etiam absentibus nobis (without our aid) veritas se ipsa defendet, id. Ac. 2, 11, 36:
longe iis fraternum nomen populi Romani afuturum,Caes. B. G. 1, 36. So also Cic. Planc. 5, 13: et quo plus intererat, eo plus aberas a me, the more I needed your assistance, the more you neglected me, v. Wunder ad h. l.; cf. also Sall. C. 20 fin.
G Cicero uses abesse to designate his banishment from Rome (which he would never acknowledge as such):
qui nullā lege abessem,Cic. Sest. 34, 37; cf.: discessus. —Hence, absens, entis (gen. plur. regul. absentium;
absentum,Plaut. Stich. 1, 1, 5), P. a., absent (opp. praesens).
A In gen.:
vos et praesentem me curā levatis et absenti magna solatia dedistis,Cic. Brut. 3, 11; so id. Off. 3, 33, 121; Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 17:
quocirca (amici) et absentes adsunt et egentes abundant,id. Lael. 7, 23:
ut loquerer tecum absens, cum coram id non licet,id. Att. 7, 15:
me absente,id. Dom. 3; id. Cael. 50:
illo absente,id. Tull. 17; Cic. Verr. 2, 60:
absente accusatore,id. ib. 2, 99 al.—Sup.:
mente absentissimus,Aug. Conf. 4, 4.—Of things (not thus in Cic.):
Romae rus optas, absentem rusticus urbem tollis ad astra,Hor. S. 2, 7, 28; so,
Rhodus,id. Ep. 1, 11, 21:
rogus,Mart. 9, 77, 8:
venti,Stat. Th. 5, 87:
imagines rerum absentium,Quint. 6, 2, 29:
versus,Gell. 20, 10.—
B In partic.
1 In conversat. lang.
(a) Praesens absens, in one's presence or absence:
postulo ut mihi tua domus te praesente absente pateat,Ter. Eun. 5, 8, 29.—
(b) Absente nobis turbatumst, in our absence (so also:
praesente nobis, v. praesens),Ter. Eun. 4, 3, 7; Afran. ap. Non. 76, 19 (Com. Rel. p. 165 Rib.).—
2 In polit. lang., not appearing in public canvassings as a competitor:
deligere (Scipio) iterum consul absens,Cic. Rep. 6, 11; so Liv. 4, 42, 1; 10, 22, 9.—
3 = mortuus, deceased, Plaut. Cas. prol. 20; Vitr. 7, praef. § 8.—
4 Ellipt.: absens in Lucanis, absent in Lucania, i. e. absent and in Lucania, Nep. Hann. 5, 3; so id. Att. 8, 6.