The state, condition, or practice of being an absentee, especially a landowner who lives away from their property.
From absentee (one who is absent) + -ship (a suffix denoting state or condition). Absentee comes from French absent, from Latin absentem (being away). The -ship suffix comes from Old English -scipe, meaning state or office.
This word is most associated with 18th and 19th century Irish history, where 'absenteeship' became a major social problem—English landlords collected rents from Irish estates they never visited, draining wealth from the country without reinvesting in it, which fueled resentment that eventually contributed to Irish independence movements.
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