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desert

Pronunciation: /ˈdɛz.ət/

The English word “desert” has 7 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland.
  2. In particular, a barren, arid area of land which is hot, with sandy, rocky, or parched ground.
  3. Any barren place or situation.
  4. That which is deserved or merited; a just punishment or reward.

adjective

  1. Usually of a place: abandoned, deserted, or uninhabited.

verb

  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.
  2. To leave one's duty or post, especially to leave a military or naval unit without permission.

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.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.