Etymologically
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déserter

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /de.zɛʁ.te/[1]

Forms

déserter[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin dēsertāre,[2][1][3] formed on Latin dēsertus (“abandoned”), the past participle of Latin dēserere (“to abandon, forsake”), Medieval Latin used it for “to abandon (a country); to lay waste” (early 9th century).[2][4] The Grand Robert and the GLLF derive it from French désert.[5][6] Compare Italian desertare, Spanish desertar and Old Occitan dezertar.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has it for laying waste, making a place uninhabited;[2] the Grand Robert and the GLLF find it about 1050 in the Vie de saint Alexis.[5][6] Roncevaux laments France belle ! come es hui desertée de bons vassaus.[7]

Semantic evolution

Until the 17th century it meant chiefly “to abandon a person” and “to make a place deserted”; from the late 13th century it also meant to abandon a place or a thing.[4][2] Richelet (1680) records the military sense, to leave the army without leave, which the Petit Robert describes as taken up again from Italian in the 17th century.[2][8] Figuratively one deserts a cause or a party (Baudelaire), and things desert a person (Gide).[6][8] Déserteur (13th century) followed the same development.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – In the Vie de saint Alexis.[5]
  • c. 1100 – “To lay waste”, in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • 13th century – Déserteur.[4]
  • Late 13th century – “To abandon (a place)”.[2]
  • 1680 – To desert the army, in Richelet.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To desert, abandon (a place): déserter son poste, village déserté.[8][1]
  2. (intransitive, military) To desert.[8][9]
  3. (figurative) To abandon, betray (a cause, a party).[8][6]
  4. (dated) To lay waste, depopulate.[6]

Word family

  • déserteur
  • désertion
  • désert
  • Latin dēsertus

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 52b
  4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)