Other forms: attendances
Attendance is being present at lessons, work or an event. Take the attendance, poor attendance, attendance figures.
In schools it is registered twice a day and is a legal duty on parents in Britain, with fines for persistent absence. Attendance figures are also the count at a match or a concert. In attendance is a formal phrase meaning present and available: a doctor was in attendance. Note attendee, which is American and disliked by some; and attendance allowance, which is a British benefit for older disabled people.
1nounattendanceBeing present at lessons, work or an event.
“Attendance at lectures is compulsory for first-year students.”
2nounnumberThe number of people present.
“Attendance at the match was low because of the heavy rain.”
attendance is presence or a count of it.
Old French atendance comes from atendre, to await or attend, from Latin attendere, to stretch towards. Attendance is a stretching towards, and the register is simply a record of who did.
Old French
atendance
Middle English
attendance
English, today
attendance
Built from
From Middle English attendance, from Old French atendance, from atendre (“to attend, listen”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA