desert.
A barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland.
Meaning & usage
A barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland.
A barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland. In particular, a barren, arid area of land which is hot, with sandy, rocky, or parched ground.
Any barren place or situation.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English desert (“wilderness”), from Old French desert, from Latin dēsertum, past participle of dēserō (“to abandon”). Generally displaced native Old English wēsten. False cognate of Egyptian dšrt.
Usually of a place: abandoned, deserted, or uninhabited.
They were marooned on a desert island in the Pacific.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English desert (“wilderness”), from Old French desert, from Latin dēsertum, past participle of dēserō (“to abandon”). Generally displaced native Old English wēsten. False cognate of Egyptian dšrt.
To leave (anything that depends on one's presence to survive, exist, or succeed), especially when contrary to a promise or obligation; to abandon; to forsake.
You can't just drive off and desert me here, in the middle of nowhere.
To leave one's duty or post, especially to leave a military or naval unit without permission.
Anyone found deserting will be punished.
Where this word comes from
Borrowed from French déserter, from Late Latin dēsertō, from Latin dēsertus, from dēserō (“abandon”).
That which is deserved or merited; a just punishment or reward.
just deserts
Where this word comes from
From Middle English desert, deseert, from Old French deserte, from deservir (“to deserve”), from Vulgar Latin dēserviō (“to gain or merit by giving service”).
Obsolete form of dessert.
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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.