Pres″ent, n. [Cf. F. présent. See Present, a.] 1. Present time; the time being; time in progress now, or at the moment contemplated; as, at this present.
Past and present, wound in one. Tennyson.
2. pl.(Law) Present letters or instrument, as a deed of conveyance, a lease, letter of attorney, or other writing; as in the phrase, “ Know all men by these presents,” that is, by the writing itself, “ per has literas praesentes; ” — in this sense, rarely used in the singular.
3. (Gram.) A present tense, or the form of the verb denoting the present tense.
At present, at the present time; now. — For the present, for the tine being; temporarily. — In present, at once, without delay. “With them, in present, half his kingdom; the rest to follow at his death.” Milton.