abs-que, prep. gov. abl. [from abs and the generalizing -que, like susque deque from sub and de; cf. Prisc. 999 P.] (ante- and post - class.), without.
I Ante-class.
A Denoting defect in conception, while the class. sine indicates defect in reality. In Plaut. and Ter. only in conditional clauses: absque me, te, eo, etc., esset = nisi or si ego, tu, is, etc.. non fuissem; without me , i. e. without my agency, if it had not been for me : nam hercle absque me foret et meo praesidio, hic faceret te prostibilem, if I had not stood by you , Plaut. Pers. 5, 2, 56; cf. id. Trin. 5, 2, 3: nam absque ted esset, numquam hodie ad solem occasum viverem, if you had not aided me , etc., id. Men. 5, 7, 33; cf. id. Bacch. 3, 3, 8; id. Trin. 4, 1, 13: absque eo esset, recte ego mihi vidissem, Ter. Phorm. 189. Somewhat different is, quam fortunatus ceteris sum rebus, absque una hac foret, if it were not for this one thing , id. Hec. 601.
B After Plaut. and Ter., absque appears in the classic lang. only a few times in a kind of jurid. formula: absque sententiā, without judgment , contrary to it : nullam a me epistulam ad te sino absque argumento ac sententiā pervenire, Cic. Att. 1, 19, 1; cf.: an etiamsi nullā ratione ductus est, impetu raptus sit et absque sententiā? Quint. 7, 2, 44.
II Post-class.
A Likewise in jurid. lang., i. q. sine, without : decerni absque libelli documento, Cod. Th. 11, 30, 40; so, absque praejudicio, Gell. 2, 2, 7: absque ullā observatione, Cod. Th. 13, 5, 38: absque omni praerogativā principum, Amm. 23, 5.
B I. q. praeter, except : apud Aeschylum eundem esse versum absque paucis syllabis, Gell. 13, 18 (19), 4; so, absque paucis, Symm. Ep. 2, 36: absque his, Cod. Th. 6, 4, 18; 11, 16, 17: purpureus absque caudā, except the tail , Sol. 46.—Adv., = praeterquam, nisi: absque labra, except the lips , Amm. 23, 5; so, absque illud nomen, Jul. Val. Rer. Gest. Alex. M. 1, 18.