derelict.
Given up by the guardian or owner; abandoned, forsaken.
Meaning & usage
Given up by the guardian or owner; abandoned, forsaken.
Given up by the guardian or owner; abandoned, forsaken. Of a ship: abandoned at sea; of a spacecraft: abandoned in outer space.
There was a derelict ship on the island.
Of property: in a poor state due to abandonment or neglect; dilapidated, neglected.
Adrift, lost.
Negligent in performing a duty; careless.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *de Proto-Indo-European *-h₁ Proto-Indo-European *déh₁ Proto-Italic *dē Latin dē Latin dē- Proto-Italic *wre- Latin re- Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Proto-Indo-European *linékʷti Proto-Italic *linkʷō Latin linquō Latin relinquō Latin dērelictusbor. English derelict The adjective and verb are a learned borrowing from Latin dērelictus (“(completely) abandoned, deserted, forsaken; discarded”), the perfect passive participle of dērelinquō (“to abandon, desert, forsake; to discard”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘away from; completely, thoroughly’) + relinquō (“to abandon, desert, forsake, leave (behind); to depart (from); to give up, relinquish”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave”). Doublet of relict, relic, and relinquish. The noun is derived from the adjective.
Property abandoned by its former guardian or owner; (countable) an item of such property.
Property abandoned by its former guardian or owner; (countable) an item of such property. Property abandoned at sea with no hope of recovery and no expectation of being returned to its owner; (countable) an item of such property, especially a ship.
An abandoned or forsaken person; an outcast, a waif.
A homeless or jobless person; a vagrant; also, a person who is (perceived as) negligent in their hygiene and personal affairs.
A person who is negligent in performing a duty.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *de Proto-Indo-European *-h₁ Proto-Indo-European *déh₁ Proto-Italic *dē Latin dē Latin dē- Proto-Italic *wre- Latin re- Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Proto-Indo-European *linékʷti Proto-Italic *linkʷō Latin linquō Latin relinquō Latin dērelictusbor. English derelict The adjective and verb are a learned borrowing from Latin dērelictus (“(completely) abandoned, deserted, forsaken; discarded”), the perfect passive participle of dērelinquō (“to abandon, desert, forsake; to discard”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘away from; completely, thoroughly’) + relinquō (“to abandon, desert, forsake, leave (behind); to depart (from); to give up, relinquish”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave”). Doublet of relict, relic, and relinquish. The noun is derived from the adjective.
To abandon or forsake (someone or something).
To neglect a duty.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *de Proto-Indo-European *-h₁ Proto-Indo-European *déh₁ Proto-Italic *dē Latin dē Latin dē- Proto-Italic *wre- Latin re- Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Proto-Indo-European *linékʷti Proto-Italic *linkʷō Latin linquō Latin relinquō Latin dērelictusbor. English derelict The adjective and verb are a learned borrowing from Latin dērelictus (“(completely) abandoned, deserted, forsaken; discarded”), the perfect passive participle of dērelinquō (“to abandon, desert, forsake; to discard”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘away from; completely, thoroughly’) + relinquō (“to abandon, desert, forsake, leave (behind); to depart (from); to give up, relinquish”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave”). Doublet of relict, relic, and relinquish. The noun is derived from the adjective.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.