desert

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See also dessert, désert, and deșert

Contents

English [edit]

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Etymology 1 [edit]

Middle English from the Old French deserte, from deservir (“to deserve”). This in turn is from the Vulgar Latin deservire (“to gain or merit by giving service”)

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

desert (plural deserts)

  1. (usually in plural) That which is deserved or merited; a just punishment or reward
    • 1600, John Dowland, Flow My Tears
      From the highest spire of contentment / my fortune is thrown; / and fear and grief and pain for my deserts / are my hopes, since hope is gone.
    • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula Chapter 21
      "Nonsense, Mina. It is a shame to me to hear such a word. I would not hear it of you. And I shall not hear it from you. May God judge me by my deserts, and punish me with more bitter suffering than even this hour, if by any act or will of mine anything ever come between us!"
    • A. Hamilton
      His reputation falls far below his desert.
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
that which is deserved or merited; a just punishment or reward

Etymology 2 [edit]

French désert or Old French desert, from Vulgar Latin desertum, from Latin desertus (“left waste”), past participle of deserere (“abandon”).

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

desert (plural deserts)

  1. A barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland.
    • Alexander Pope
      Not thus the land appear'd in ages past, / A dreary desert and a gloomy waste.
  2. (figuratively) Any barren place or situation.
    • 2006, Philip N. Cooke, Creative Industries in Wales: Potential and Pitfalls (page 34)
      So the question that is commonly asked is, why put a media incubator in a media desert and have it managed by a civil servant?

Adjective [edit]

desert (not comparable)

  1. Abandoned, deserted, or uninhabited; usually of a place.
    They were marooned on a desert island in the Pacific.
Derived terms [edit]
Derived terms
Translations [edit]
barren area

Etymology 3 [edit]

From French déserter, from Late Latin desertare, from Latin desertus, from deserere (“abandon”)

Pronunciation [edit]

  • enPR: dĭzû(r)t', IPA: /dɪˈzɜː(ɹ)t/, X-SAMPA: /dI"z3:(r)t/
  • Audio (US), verb
    		(file)

Verb [edit]

desert (third-person singular simple present deserts, present participle deserting, simple past and past participle deserted)

  1. 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.
  2. To leave one's duty or post, especially to leave a military or naval unit without permission.
    Anyone found deserting will be shot.
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
to abandon
to leave military service

Anagrams [edit]

Catalan [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Latin dēsertum.

Noun [edit]

desert m (plural deserts)

  1. desert (desolate terrain)

Middle French [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Latin dēsertum.

Noun [edit]

desert m (plural desers)

  1. desert (desolate terrain)

Old French [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Latin dēsertum.

Noun [edit]

desert m (oblique plural desers, nominative singular desers, nominative plural desert)

  1. desert (desolate terrain)

Serbo-Croatian [edit]

Noun [edit]

dèsert m (Cyrillic spelling дѐсерт)

  1. dessert

Declension [edit]

    declension of desert
singular plural
nominative desert deserti
genitive deserta deserta
dative desertu desertima
accusative desert deserte
vocative deserte deserti
locative desertu desertima
instrumental desertom desertima
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