Origin: Latin suffix -ence
Presence has 8 different meanings across 1 category:
an invisible spiritual being felt to be nearby
"The children whispered about the presence they felt watching them from the corner of the attic during their sleepover."
dignified manner or conduct
"Her royal presence commanded silence from the crowd without her even raising her voice."
the act of being present
"His sudden presence at the meeting surprised everyone who thought he was out of town."
The fact or condition of being present, or of being within sight or call, or at hand.
"The sudden presence of a stranger in our quiet living room made everyone freeze and look around nervously."
In plain English: Presence is the quality of being there and feeling real in a situation.
"The sudden presence of a stranger made everyone feel uneasy."
Usage: Use presence to describe the state of someone or something actually being there in a specific location or situation. It refers to physical attendance rather than an abstract quality like dignity or importance.
To make or become present.
"The teacher's sudden presence silenced the noisy classroom immediately."
In plain English: To be present means to actually be there in person instead of just being somewhere else mentally.
"The new manager will be present at the meeting tomorrow."
Usage: The verb presence is archaic and rarely used in modern English; instead, use the phrasal verb come into presence to mean making someone or something appear. In contemporary speech, it is far more common to simply say that a person is present or that an event takes place.
The word entered English through Old French as presence, derived from the Latin praesentia meaning "a being present." It eventually replaced the earlier Old English term weardnes.