desert

noun

1. A barren or desolate area, especially:
   a. A dry, often sandy region of little rainfall, extreme temperatures, and sparse vegetation.
   b. A region of permanent cold that is largely or entirely devoid of life.
   c. An apparently lifeless area of water.
2. An empty or forsaken place; a wasteland: a cultural desert.
3. Archaic A wild, uncultivated, and uninhabited region.

adjective

1. Of, relating to, characteristic of, or inhabiting a desert: desert fauna.
2. Barren and uninhabited; desolate: a desert island.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English

Origin: , from Old French

Origin: , from Late Latin dēsertum

Origin: , from

Origin: neuter past participle of dēserere, to desert; see desert³

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noun

1. Something that is deserved or merited, especially a punishment. Often used in the plural: They got their just deserts when the scheme was finally uncovered.
2. The state or fact of deserving reward or punishment.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English

Origin: , from Old French deserte

Origin: , from

Origin: feminine past participle of deservir, to deserve; see deserve

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Word History: When Shakespeare says in Sonnet 72, “Unless you would devise some virtuous lie,/To do more for me than mine own desert,” he is using the word desert in the sense of “worthiness; deserving,” a word perhaps most familiar to us in the plural, meaning “something that is deserved,” as in the phrase just deserts. This word goes back to the Latin word dēservīre, “to devote oneself to the service of,” which in Vulgar Latin came to mean “to merit by service.” Dēservīre is made up of dē-, meaning “thoroughly,” and servīre, “to serve.” Knowing this, we can distinguish this desert from desert, “a wasteland,” and desert, “to abandon,” both of which go back to Latin dēserere, “to forsake, leave uninhabited,” which is made up of dē-, expressing the notion of undoing, and the verb serere, “to link together.” We can also distinguish all three deserts from dessert, “a sweet course at the end of a meal,” which is from the French word desservir, “to clear the table.” Desservir is made up of des-, expressing the notion of reversal, and servir (from Latin servīre), “to serve,” hence, “to unserve” or “to clear the table.”

verb de·sert·ed, de·sert·ing, de·serts verb, transitive

1. To leave empty or alone; abandon.
2. To withdraw from, especially in spite of a responsibility or duty; forsake: deserted her friend in a time of need.
3. To abandon (a military post, for example) in violation of orders or an oath.

verb, intransitive

Origin:

Origin: French déserter

Origin: , from Late Latin dēsertāre

Origin: , frequentative of Latin dēserere, to abandon

Origin: : dē-, de-

Origin: + serere, to join; see ser-² in Indo-European roots

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Related Forms:

• de·sertˈer noun