desert English · revision 5415

+ Desert, a barren region, desert, what one deserves, and desert, to abandon, are three words; the first and third both go back to Latin dēserere “to forsake”.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ {{homograph|1|barren region}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1200|origins=la dēserere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈdez.ət/, US /ˈdez.ɚt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The barren region is [[inh|enm|desert]], [[bor|fro|desert|t=wilderness, wasteland]] and directly from [[la-lat|dēsertum|t=a thing abandoned]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) used in the Vulgate for “wilderness”, a noun use of the neuter past participle of [[la|dēserere|t=to forsake]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The adjective is from Old French désert, from Latin dēsertus.^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A wasteland or wilderness, wooded or not: about 1200 in Etymonline, before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle according to Barnhart.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense of a large waterless, treeless region was already in Middle English and gradually became the main meaning.^(Etymonline) Classical Latin expressed it with deserta, the plural of desertus.^(Etymonline) In the 18th century it was often spelt desart, which avoided confusion with the other two words.^(Etymonline) A place lacking something, as in ''a cultural desert'', is a later figurative use.^(Collins 2023) ''Desertification'' is from 1973.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – a wilderness.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 18th century – the spelling desart.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1973 – ''desertification''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large dry area of land with little rain and few plants, often covered with sand.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A place that lacks something good: ''a cultural desert''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Uninhabited and barren: ''a desert island''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ {{homograph|2|what one deserves}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1297|origins=la dēservīre}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /dɪˈzɜːt/, /dəˈzɜːt/, US /dɪˈzɝːt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ What one deserves is [[inh|enm|deserte]], [[bor|fro|deserte|t=merit, recompense]], a noun use of the past participle of [[m|fro|deservir|t=to be worthy to have]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[la|dēservīre|t=to serve well, devote oneself to]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[deserve]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Deserving, being worthy of reward or punishment: 1297 in the OED, about 1300 in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Merit or worth is from about 1374.^(OED 1989) A suitable reward or punishment is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the plural in ''one's just deserts'' is first recorded about 1380, in Chaucer's Boethius.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1297 – deserving.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1380 – ''just deserts''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(usually deserts)'' What a person deserves, especially as punishment: ''get one's just deserts''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The state of deserving reward or punishment.^(AHD)

+

+ {{homograph|3|abandon}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1380|origins=la dēserere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /dɪˈzɜːt/, /dəˈzɜːt/, US /dɪˈzɝːt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ To abandon is [[bor|fr|déserter]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[la-lat|dēsertāre]], a frequentative of [[la|dēserere|t=to abandon, forsake]], literally “to undo a connection”, from [[m|la|dē-|t=undo]] and [[m|la|serere|t=to join together]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[series]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To leave or forsake: about 1380 in Chaucer's Boethius according to Barnhart, about 1600 in Etymonline, 1603 in MWU.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Leaving military service or duty without permission is from the 1640s,^(Etymonline) and the intransitive sense of quitting a post from the 1680s.^(Etymonline) ''Desertion'' is from 1591 and ''deserter'' from 1635.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1380 – to leave, forsake.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1591 – ''desertion''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1640s – to leave military service.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To leave someone or something without help; to [[abandon]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To leave the armed forces without permission.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of a quality, to fail someone: ''his courage deserted him''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[deserted]]

+ * [[deserter]]

+ * [[deserve]]

+ * [[dessert]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The sweet course [[dessert]], from the mid-16th century, is a different word with a double s.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}