Presence

How to spell presence

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce presence

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does presence mean?

1. nounThe fact or state of being in a particular place, or of attending something.
2. nounAn impressive or commanding manner that a person projects.

Presence in a sentence

• The manager requested the presence of every team member at the review.

• The actor had such stage presence that the audience fell silent.

• Her presence at the meeting reassured the nervous clients.

• A calm, confident presence helped her dominate the negotiation.

Where does presence come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin praesentia, meaning 'a being at hand' or 'the state of being present', formed from praesens, the present participle of praeesse. That verb combined prae, meaning 'before' or 'in front of', with esse, meaning 'to be', so the literal sense was 'being right in front of someone'. Latin praesentia passed into Old French as presence and was borrowed into English in the 1300s, keeping both the plain idea of being physically there and the richer idea of a person's commanding air or bearing. The same prae- esse roots sit inside 'present' (the gift, the moment, and the verb), which is exactly why presence and the plural 'presents' sound identical and trip up writers. Remembering the buried Latin esse 'to be' helps fix the -sence ending: presence is the state of being, not a stack of gifts.

How the word is built

• prae- (before, in front of)
• sent- (from esse: to be, present participle praesens 'being at hand')
• -ence (noun suffix of state)