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deserto

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word deserto

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
5th century AD, Apponius
Ultimate origin
Latin dēserō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin desero
Latin deserto
From the same root
Latin desertor ← desero

Forms

dēsertō (present infinitive dēsertāre, perfect active dēsertāvī, supine dēsertātum); first conjugation[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēserō (“to abandon”), formed on its past participle dēsertus;[1][3] Etymonline calls it a frequentative.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first instances are in Apponius, of the garden of paradise abandoned through the first Adam, and in Peter Chrysologus, of the prodigal son's brother who tilled the land and neglected himself.[1][4][5]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it meant “to abandon, leave untended”.[1][4] In early medieval texts it is used for laying waste and emptying: the law of the Bavarians of damage to buildings, a capitulary of estates left without workers, and the Annals of Fulda of the Bavarian raid on Moravia in 899.[2] It also meant to desert or forsake, and to let buildings or land fall into decay.[6][2][7]

French déserter comes from it, and English desert “to abandon” from the French.[3]

Timeline

  • 5th century AD – Apponius, “to abandon”.[1][5]
  • first half of the 5th century AD – Peter Chrysologus, “to neglect”.[1][4][5]
  • before 743 – The law of the Bavarians, “to damage, lay waste”.[2][5]
  • 899 – The Annals of Fulda, of a raid.[2]
  • c. 1600 – English desert, through French.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (Late Latin) To abandon; to neglect, leave untilled.[1][4]
  2. (Medieval Latin) To devastate, lay waste, depopulate; to demolish.[2][6]
  3. (Medieval Latin) To desert, forsake.[2][6][7]
  4. (Medieval Latin) To let fall into decay; in the participle, uncultivated, waste.[6][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
Cite this entry

“Deserto.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/deserto. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·