noun
absentee; person who is absent
Refers to a person who is not present, often used in formal or legal contexts such as voting, meetings, or legal declarations.
会議には不在者が多かった。
There were many absentees at the meeting.
不在者投票の手続きを教えてください。
Please tell me the procedure for absentee voting.
Compound of 不在 (absence) + 者 (person). The exact historical derivation is straightforward; the word follows standard Sino-Japanese word formation patterns.