originally, ownership of land by proprietors who did not reside on the land or cultivate it themselves but enjoyed income from it. The term absentee ownership has assumed a derogatory social connotation not inherent in its literal meaning, based on the assumption that absentee owners lack personal interest in and knowledge of their lands and tenants.

Absentee ownership has been a social and political issue for centuries in many parts of the world. It was, for example, a basis for the criticism directed at a portion of the court nobility in pre-Revolutionary France and was also prominent in the debates concerning the exploitation of Irish tenants by English absentee owners in the 19th century. It continues to be a crucial economic issue in the land reform programs of many developing countries.