"Absent" as a preposition

Question

I've recently seen some people use absent as if it were a preposition. One example, which I found in the Christianity forum of Stack Exchange, is as follows:

A Sinful nature provides an irresistable [sic] compulsion to sin, but even absent that, one can still partake in sin.

I cannot find the prepositional use of absent in any dictionary. Is it a new usage?

I can find its noun and verb entries, but not its preposition entry. — Apollyon, Feb 04 '14 at 04:48
Please look in any of the several dictionaries that Susan and Jasper linked to. — Bradd Szonye, Feb 04 '14 at 05:26
M-W, AHD, Wiktionary, Oxford Dictionaries, The Free Dictionary, Dictionary.com and Etymonline all have an entry on absent as a preposition. As the last one points out, the usage is at least 70 years old. — RegDwigнt, Feb 04 '14 at 10:30

score 8 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 04 '14 at 04:22

8

Absent is indeed used as a preposition to mean without.

answered Feb 04 '14 at 04:22

Can you list a dictionary that has it as a preposition? – Apollyon Feb 04 '14 at 04:49
3

Check the linked dictionary. – Bradd Szonye Feb 04 '14 at 05:22

"Absent" as a preposition

1 Answers1

Linked