defection

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēfectiō (“failure, weakness, desertion, revolt”),^[2][3][4][5] from dēfect-, the past participial stem of dēficiō (“to desert, fail, be wanting”),^[2][3][6] from dē- (“down, away”) and faciō (“to do, make”), from Proto-Indo-European *dhe- (“to set, put”).^[3] In post-classical Latin the noun also meant a moral defect, in Tertullian in the early 3rd century, and a falling away from God, in Augustine in the 5th.^[2] The OED compares Anglo-Norman defectiun and Middle French defection, noting that French défection seems to have the sense of deserting a cause only from 1680, later than English.^[2] Defect is the earlier noun from the same Latin verb.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A defect or imperfection: 1526, in the Grete Herball.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to the 1540s, in the sense "action of failing",^[3] and Dictionary.com to 1535–45.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The revised OED finds abandoning one's faith or moral duty from 1532, in the records of the Scottish Parliament, and deserting a person, party or cause from 1542, in Udall's translation of Erasmus.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates that sense to 1546,^[6] and Etymonline to the 1550s, adding that it was often used of faith at first.^[3] Johnson (1755) gave "want; failure", "a falling away; apostacy" and "an abandoning of a king, or state; revolt".^[8] The sense of failing lasted until 1874, and a medical sense "faint, swoon" from 1615 to 1684.^[2] The sense "defect" is now rare,^[2] and the Shorter Oxford also records leaving one's country for one with an opposing ideology.^[5]

Timeline

• 1526 – defect, imperfection.^[2]
• 1532 – the abandoning of one's faith or moral duty.^[2]
• 1542 – the deserting of a person, party or cause.^[2]
• 1576 – failing or falling short (obsolete by 1874).^[2]
• 1615 – a faint, a swoon (obsolete by 1684).^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of deserting a person, party, cause or country, especially for an opposing one: The defection of two senior ministers weakened the government.^[9][6][2][5]
2. A falling away from faith, duty or principles; backsliding, apostasy.^[9][2][5]
3. (rare) A defect or imperfection.^[2][5][9]
4. (archaic) A failing or failure.^[5][6]

Word family

• nondefection
• redefection

Related words

• defect
• defective
• defector
• deficiency
• deficient
• deficit

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins