desert
UK /ˈdɛz.ət/ · US /ˈdɛz.ɚt/ noun, adjective, verb
Also a form of dessert
Forms deserts deserting deserted
- noun A barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland.
- noun In particular, a barren, arid area of land which is hot, with sandy, rocky, or parched ground.
- noun (figuratively) Any barren place or situation.
- adjective Usually of a place: abandoned, deserted, or uninhabited. “They were marooned on a desert island in the Pacific.”
- verb To leave (anything that depends on one's presence to survive, exist, or succeed), especially when contrary to a promise or obligation; to abandon; to forsake. “You can't just drive off and desert me here, in the middle of nowhere.”
- verb To leave one's duty or post, especially to leave a military or naval unit without permission. “Anyone found deserting will be punished.”
- noun (often in the plural; now chiefly technical (in philosophy) or fossil) That which is deserved or merited; a just punishment or reward. “just deserts”
Synonyms
forsaken peopleless vacant abandoned derelict deserted desolate discarded dropped forlorn high and dry left behind orphaned beingless howling disinhabited inhabitantless inhabited lifeless solitary abandon forsake defect
Etymology
From Middle English desert (“wilderness”), from Old French desert, from Latin dēsertum, past participle of dēserō (“to abandon”). Generally displaced native Old English wēsten. False cognate of Egyptian dšrt.
Borrowed from French déserter, from Late Latin dēsertō, from Latin dēsertus, from dēserō (“abandon”).
From Middle English desert, deseert, from Old French deserte, from deservir (“to deserve”), from Vulgar Latin dēserviō (“to gain or merit by giving service”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun That which is deserved; the reward or the punishment justly due; claim to recompense, usually in a good sense; right to reward; merit.
- noun A deserted or forsaken region; a barren tract incapable of supporting population, as the vast sand plains of Asia and Africa are destitute and vegetation.
- noun A tract, which may be capable of sustaining a population, but has been left unoccupied and uncultivated; a wilderness; a solitary place.
- adjective Of or pertaining to a desert; forsaken; without life or cultivation; unproductive; waste; barren; wild; desolate; solitary; as, they landed on a desert island.
Etymology [OF. deserte, desserte, merit, recompense, fr. deservir, desservir, to merit. See Deserve.]
Etymology [F. désert, L. desertum, from desertus solitary, desert, pp. of deserere to desert; de- + serere to join together. See Series.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “desert”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details