Abessive case

In linguistics, abessive (abbreviated ABE or ABESS), caritive and privative (abbreviated PRIV) is the grammatical case expressing the lack or absence of the marked noun. In English, the corresponding function is expressed by the preposition without or by the suffix -less.

The name abessive is derived from abesse "to be away/absent", and is especially used in reference to Uralic languages. The name caritive is derived from Latin: carere "to lack", and is especially used in reference to Caucasian languages. The name privative is derived from Latin: privare "to deprive".