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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary desert
ETYMOLOGY Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin desertum, from Latin, neuter of desertus, past participle of deserere to desert, from de- + serere to join together — more at series DATE 13th century 1. a. arid land with usually sparse vegetation; especially : such land having a very warm climate and receiving less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of sporadic rainfall annually b. an area of water apparently devoid of life 2. archaic : a wild uninhabited and uncultivated tract 3. a desolate or forbidding area lost in a desert of doubt
DATE 13th century 1. desolate and sparsely occupied or unoccupied a desert island 2. of or relating to a desert 3. archaic : forsaken
ETYMOLOGY Middle English deserte, from Anglo-French, from feminine of desert, past participle of deservir to deserve DATE 13th century 1. the quality or fact of deserving reward or punishment 2. deserved reward or punishment — usually used in plural got their just deserts 3. excellence , worth
ETYMOLOGY French déserter, from Late Latin desertare,frequentative of Latin deserere DATE 1603 transitive verb 1. to withdraw from or leave usually without intent to return desert a town 2. a. to leave in the lurch desert a friend in trouble b. to abandon (military service) without leave intransitive verb : to quit one's post, allegiance, or service without leave or justification; especially : to abandon military duty without leave and without intent to return Synonyms: see abandon • de·sert·er noun English Etymology desert 1. desert (v.) "to leave," late 14c., from O.Fr . deserter "leave," lit."undo or sever connection," from L.L. desertare, freq. of L.deserere "to abandon," from de- "undo" + serere "join" (see series). Military sense is first recorded 1640s.http://O.Fr 2. desert (n.1) "wasteland," early 13c., from O.Fr . desert, from L.L.desertum, lit. "thing abandoned" (used in Vulgate to translate "wilderness"), n. use of neut. pp. of L. deserere "forsake" (see desert (v.)). Sense of "waterless, treeless region" was in M.E. and gradually became the main meaning. Commonly spelled desart in 18c., which is not etymological but at least avoids confusion with the other two senses of the word.http://O.Fr 3. desert (n.2) "suitable reward or punishment" (now usually plural and just), c.1300, from O.Fr . deserte, pp. of deservir "be worthy to have," from L. deservire "serve well" (see deserve).http://O.Fr Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 ☞ desert des·ert noun/ 5dezEt; NAmE 5dezErt / ⇨ see also deserts [C, U] a large area of land that has very little water and very few plants growing on it. Many deserts are covered by sand. 沙漠；荒漠；荒原: the Sahara Desert 撒哈拉大沙漠 Somalia is mostly desert. 索马里大部份地区都是荒漠。 burning desert sands 沙漠里灼热的沙 (figurative) a cultural desert (= a place without any culture) 文化沙漠 verb/ di5zE:t; NAmE di5zE:rt / 1. [VN] to leave sb without help or support 抛弃,离弃,遗弃(某人) SYN abandon :
She was deserted by her husband. 她被丈夫遗弃了。 2. [VN] [often passive] to go away from a place and leave it empty 舍弃,离弃(某地方) SYN abandon :
The villages had been deserted. 这些村庄已经荒无人烟了。 The owl seems to have deserted its nest. 这只猫头鹰似乎不要这个窝了。 3. to leave the armed forces without permission 擅离(部队)；逃走；开小差: ▪ [V] Large numbers of soldiers deserted as defeat became inevitable. 战败已成定局,许多士兵开小差跑了。 ▪ [also VN] 4. [VN] to stop using, buying or supporting sth 废弃；放弃；撇下不管: Why did you desert teaching for politics? 你为什么弃教从政呢？ 5. [VN] if a particular quality deserts you, it is not there when you need it 背离；使失望: Her courage seemed to desert her for a moment. 她一时间似乎失去了勇气。 • de·ser·tion / di5zE:Fn; NAmE -5zE:r- / noun [U, C] : She felt betrayed by her husband's desertion. 她感到丈夫遗弃她辜负了她的心。 The army was badly affected by desertions. 开小差使部队大受影响。 IDIOMS ⇨ see sink v. Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English desert noun ADJ. arid, barren, dry green fields surrounded by arid desert | vast | inhospitable | Arctic, polar | cultural (figurative) The theatre and cinema closed and the town became a cultural desert. VERB + DESERT become, turn into/to The land loses its protective cover of vegetation and soon turns into desert. | cross He became the first person to cross the desert on foot. DESERT + VERB stretch The desert stretched for endless miles on all sides of us. DESERT + NOUN area, country, land, landscape, region vast tracts of desert land | conditions | heat | sand, soil | floor, surface | plain | animal, plant PREP. across/through the ~ their journey across the desert | in the ~ cold nights in the desert | into the ~ He drove off into the desert. OLT desert verb ⇨ abandon (The villages had been deserted.)⇨ leave 5 (Don't worry — I won't desert you.) desert noun ⇨ desert Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged Search result show the entry is found in: australian desert kumquat, or red desert soil , or salt-desert cavy , or sturt's desert pea , or desert polish , or desert rheumatism , or desert armor , or desert bat , or desert candle , or desert cat , or desert date , or desert fever , or desert fox , or desert gum , or desert holly , or desert ironwood , or desert lark , or desert lemon , or desert lily , or desert locust , or desert lynx , or desert mahogany , or desert milkweed , or desert mouse , or desert palm , or desert pavement , or desert pea , or desert peach , or desert plant , or desert plume , or desert rat , or desert rod , or desert soil , or desert sore , or desert sparrow , or desert sweet , or desert tortoise , or desert trumpet , or desert trumpet flower , or desert varnish , or desert willow desert I. des·ert \ˈdezə(r)]t, usu ]d.+V\ noun (-s) Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin desertum, from Latin, neuter of desertus, past participle of deserere to desert, from de- + serere to join together — more at series 1. a. archaic : a wild uninhabited and uncultivated tract : a desolate unoccupied plain or coast or pathless woodland : wilderness , waste b. : any of the formerly unsettled regions of the United States between the Mississippi river and the Rocky mountains thought to be arid and uninhabitable 2. a. : a region in which the vegetation is so scanty as to be incapable of supporting any considerable population (as a region perpetually cold or covered with snow or ice or a region located in the interior of a continent and characterized by scanty rainfall especially of less than 10 inches annually) b. : a more or less barren tract incapable of supporting any considerable population without an artificial water supply c. : an area of an ocean believed to be devoid of marine life 3. : a secluded place for secret worship by the Huguenots during years 1715-1802 when Protestantism was under proscription in France 4. : a desolating or forbidding prospect (as from pathless emptiness, bleak unrelieved changelessness or monotony, futility of effort, or destitution of mental or spiritual animation or stimulation) < tiny fingers lost in an immense desert of darkness — Beverley Nichols > < lost in a desert of doubt > < eagles still soar between the summit of Parnassus and the Corinthian gulf, but they look down upon a desert of human history — Mark Van Doren > II. des·ert \“, in sense 1 usually like desert III\ adjectiveEtymology: Middle English, from Old French, from Latin desertus 1. archaic : deserted < the boat deck was utterly desert — Waldo Frank > 2. a. : desolate and sparsely occupied or unoccupied : inhospitable < so desert a country as the Highlands of Scotland — Adam Smith > b. : uncultivated and uninhabited : barren like a desert < one could scarcely find a more desert tract for a settler > 3. : having its habitat in a desert < desert flora and fauna > 4. : peculiar to or adapted to life in a desert < sturdy desert boots > III. de·sert \də̇ˈzər]t, dēˈ-, -zə̄], -zəi|, usu ]d.+V\ noun (-s) Etymology: Middle English deserte, from Old French, from feminine of desert (past participle of deservir to deserve), from Latin deservitus, past participle of deservire to serve zealously — more at deserve 1. a. : the quality or fact of being worthy of or deserving of rewards or recompense or of requital or punishment < the concept of desert is essentially indefinable except in terms of existing practices and ideas — G.H.Sabine > b. : a complex of actions calling for such returns < in the midst is seated Justice to award to each according to his desert — Carleton Brown > 2. a. : reward or punishment deserved or earned by one's qualities or acts < not weighing our deserts but pardoning our offenses — Missale Romanum > < by dint of much caballing and much dwelling upon his own deserts he triumphed over his enemies — Virginia Woolf > b. deserts plural : awards due for superior or inferior qualities of art or workmanship < book reviewers … frequently praise the first venture of a writer beyond its just deserts — Harrison Smith > 3. : worthiness or excellence of character as adduced by a good course of conduct < he won the appointment on grounds of desert rather than through family prestige > Synonyms: see due IV. desert verb (-ed/-ing/-s) Etymology: French déserter, from Late Latin desertare, from Latin desertus, past participle of deserere to desert — more at desert Itransitive verb 1. : to withdraw from or leave permanently or less often temporarily (as a place) : quit < farmers continue to desert the land to take up factory work > < the smile deserting his broad face — T.B.Costain > < phrases which never desert the memory — T.S.Eliot > 2. a. : to turn away from (what has previously engaged one) especially by withdrawing support or disrupting bonds of attachment or duty : reject in order to take up something else : abandon < who, 30 years before, upon being deserted by her lover had taken to her bed — Margaret Deland > < coming at last to desert the Prohibition party > < he deserted prose for the compensating rhythms of poetry — Tyrus Hillway > b. : to leave behind or give up (as a person) — used with to < forced to desert the rest of the miners to their fate > c. : to renounce marital relations by quitting the company of (one's spouse) 3. a. : to break away from or break off association with (some matter involving legal or moral obligation or some object of loyalty) : betray < not propose to desert the 100-year-old Monroe Doctrine — A.H.Vandenberg †1951 > < would be a calamity if these sciences deserted the ideal of accurate and verifiable systematic knowledge for its own sake — M.R.Cohen > b. : to abandon (military service) without leave : forsake in violation of duty < guilty of deserting his fellow soldiers > 4. : to drop away or escape from (a person) usually causing a distinct sense of loss or discomfiture : leave in the lurch : forsake < all sense of courtly etiquette deserting him — T.B.Costain > intransitive verb 1. : to quit one's post, leader, or service without leave < the native guides quietly deserted during the night > < the more liberal members of the party began deserting > 2. : to change one's allegiance < he gave fear of a return of Nazism as the reason for his deserting to the Communists > 3. a. : to quit military service without right < determined to desert > : absent oneself without leave from proper post, station, or duty with the intent to remain away permanently b. : to leave one's proper place to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service : accept appointment or enlist in the same or another armed service without first being regularly separated :enter a foreign armed service without authorization by the United States c. of an officer : to quit one's post without leave and with intent to remain away permanently after tendering one's resignation but before due notice of acceptance of it has been received |
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