Wiktionary

desert

See also: désert, desèrt, and deșert

EnglishEdit

 
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Etymology 1Edit

From Middle English desert, deseert, from Old French deserte, from deservir (“to deserve”), from Vulgar Latin dēserviō (“to gain or merit by giving service”).

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

desert (plural deserts)

  2. (usually in the 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.
    • 1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet 17:
      Who will believe my verse in time to come,
      If it were fill'd with your most high deserts?
    • 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!"
    • (Can we date this quote by A. Hamilton and provide title, author's full name, and other details?)
      His reputation falls far below his desert.
    • 1971 John Rawls, A Theory of Justice
      "It is true that certain common sense precepts of justice, particularly those which concern the protection of liberties and rights, or which express the claims of desert, seem to contradict this contention."
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit

Etymology 2Edit

Borrowed from French désert or Old French desert, from Latin dēsertum, past participle of dēserō (“to abandon”).

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

desert (countable and uncountable, plural deserts)

 
a desert on Mars
  1. A barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland.
    • (Can we date this quote by Alexander Pope and provide title, author's full name, and other details?)
      Not thus the land appear'd in ages past, / A dreary desert and a gloomy waste.
    • 1892, James Yoxall, chapter 5, in The Lonely Pyramid:
      The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. Whirling wreaths and columns of burning wind, rushed around and over them.
  2. (figuratively) Any barren place or situation.
    • 1858, William Howitt, Land, Labour, and Gold; Or, Two Years in Victoria (page 54)
      He declared that the country was an intellectual desert; that he was famishing for spiritual aliment, and for discourse on matters beyond mere nuggets, prospectings, and the price of gold.
    • 1964 March, “News and Comment: Which way to the West?”, in Modern Railways, page 147:
      By contrast, the WR route is an economic desert between Newbury and Taunton.
    • 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?

Related termsEdit

► English terms derived from the PIE root *ser-‎ (0 c, 21 e)
TranslationsEdit

AdjectiveEdit

desert (not comparable)

  1. Usually of a place: abandoned, deserted, or uninhabited.
    They were marooned on a desert island in the Pacific.
    • Bible, Luke ix. 10
      He […] went aside privately into a desert place.
    • 1697, John Dryden, “The Eighth Book of the Æneis”, in The Works Of Virgil: Containing His Paſtorals, Georgics, And Æneis […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonſon, […], OCLC 403869432, lines 252–255, page 441:
      See, from afar, yon Rock that mates the Sky, / About whoſe Feet ſuch Heaps of Rubbiſh lye: / Such indigeſted Ruin; bleak and bare, / How deſart now it ſtands, expos'd in Air!
    • 1750, Thomas Gray, "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard", Stanza 14:
      Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, / And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
Derived termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

Etymology 3Edit

Borrowed from French déserter, from Late Latin desertō, from Latin desertus, from deserō (“abandon”).

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

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 punished.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit

AnagramsEdit

CatalanEdit

EtymologyEdit

First attested 14th century[1]. From Latin dēsertum, possibly a semi-learned term.

NounEdit

desert m (plural deserts)

  1. desert (desolate terrain)

Further readingEdit

ReferencesEdit

  1. ^ “desert” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.

FriulianEdit

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Latin dēsertum (in this form possibly a semi-learned term; cf. the variant form).

NounEdit

desert m (plural deserts)

  1. desert

Middle FrenchEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old French desert.

NounEdit

desert m (plural desers)

  1. desert (desolate terrain)

DescendantsEdit

  • French: désert

Old FrenchEdit

EtymologyEdit

Probably borrowed from Latin dēsertum.

NounEdit

desert m (oblique plural deserz or desertz, nominative singular deserz or desertz, nominative plural desert)

  1. desert (desolate terrain)

DescendantsEdit

Serbo-CroatianEdit

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from French dessert.

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /děsert/
  • Hyphenation: de‧sert

NounEdit

dèsert m (Cyrillic spelling дѐсерт)

  1. dessert

DeclensionEdit

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

AntonymsEdit

ReferencesEdit

  • “desert” in Hrvatski jezični portal
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