See Also: Present(medicine)
present(1)(dictionary)
present(3)(dictionary)
present(4)(dictionary)
present(dictionary)
present(2)(dictionary)
Net present value (NPV)(finance)
re-present(dictionary)
Present Value(money)
Present value(finance)

present(1) (iou)



present adjective & adverb. ME.
[Old & mod. French present from Latin praesent-, praesens pres. pple of praeesse be before, be at hand, from prae PRE- + esse be.]
A. adjective.
I. Senses relating to place.
a. Being beside, with, or in the same place as the person who or thing which is the point of reference; being in the place in question. Chiefly pred. ME.
present company excepted excluding those who are here or being addressed now.
A. Davis Jon was present at the next meeting. C. McWilliam I had not wanted him to be present when I introduced Hal and Cora.
b. Existing in the thing, case, etc., under consideration; not wanting or lacking. E19.
Which? A manufacturing fault, present but not active. BioFactors Two other substances were present in the extract.
That is currently being discussed, considered, etc.; (of a writer or speaker) actually writing or speaking. LME.
Times The present survey aims to update and develop that document.
Having the mind or thought intent on what one is about; attentive, alert; self-possessed (also present to oneself). Now rare or obsolete. LME.
Being in the mind or consciousness; directly thought of, remembered, or imagined. Usu. foll. by to. Now rare. LME.
Esp. of help or assistance: ready at hand, immediately accessible or available. arch. M16.
II. Senses relating to time.
Existing or occurring now; that is or is so at this time; current, contemporary; modern. ME.
at that present speaking, at the present speaking, at this present speaking: see SPEAKING noun. sacrament of the present moment: see SACRAMENT noun.
I. Murdoch A life in Australia which would be..the reverse of her present life. A. S. Byatt Pieces of furniture which had no present function. I. Watson The present moment, the moment you're living through.
Grammar. Of a participle or tense: expressing an action now going on or habitually performed, or a condition now existing. LME.
Saturday Review Writing in the present tense and autobiographically.
Existing in or belonging to a particular time; that is or was so at that time. Now rare. LME.
J. Humphreys My troubles would soon be over. The present discombobulation was temporary.
Immediate, instant. M16-L18.
Comb. & special collocations: present-day adjective of this time; current, modern; present value, present worth the sum of money which, together with the compound interest on it, amounts to a specified sum at a specified future date.
B. adverb.
Immediately, instantly; now; = PRESENTLY adverb 2, 3. LME-M17.
In or into the presence of someone; there; here. LME-M16.