# desert

Pronunciation: US say "DEZ-urt" /ˈdɛz.ɚt/; UK say "DEZ-uht" /ˈdɛz.ət/

## Noun

1. A large, very dry area of land with little rain and few plants, often sandy or rocky and sometimes cold.
   - Simple: A large area of very dry land where little rain falls and few plants grow.
   - _The caravan crossed the desert before the worst of the summer heat arrived._
   - _Few plants survive in the desert, where rain falls only a handful of times each year._
5. Any barren place or situation; a metaphorical wasteland lacking something one wants or needs.
   - Simple: An empty place or situation where something good is missing.
   - _Daytime television can be an intellectual desert for curious viewers._
   - _For teenagers, the town was a cultural desert, with no cinema, no music venue, and nowhere to meet after dark._
6. What a person deserves for their conduct, whether a fitting reward or a just punishment; also, the quality of deserving it. (pronounced: say "di-ZURT" US /dɪˈzɝt/, UK /dɪˈzɜːt/)
   - Simple: What someone deserves, whether a reward for good or a punishment for bad.
   - _By any measure of desert, the medal belonged to the volunteers who stayed all night._
   - _Critics felt the lenient sentence fell far short of the swindler's deserts._

## Adjective

2. Of a place, abandoned, uninhabited, or left empty of people.
   - Simple: With no people living there, or left empty by the people who once lived there.
   - _The shipwrecked crew washed up on a desert island far from any trade route._
   - _He joked that he would take only a radio and a good book to a desert island._

## Verb

3. To abandon someone or something that depends on your presence, especially in breach of a promise or obligation. (pronounced: say "di-ZURT" US /dɪˈzɝt/, UK /dɪˈzɜːt/)
   - Simple: To leave someone or something that needs you, especially after you promised to stay.
   - _Investors began to desert the company as its losses mounted._
   - _He deserted his family, leaving them without any means of support._
4. To abandon one's post or duties, particularly by leaving an army or navy unit without authorization. (pronounced: say "di-ZURT" US /dɪˈzɝt/, UK /dɪˈzɜːt/)
   - Simple: To run away from the army or your post without permission.
   - _Several recruits chose to desert rather than face another winter at the front._
   - _The sailor who deserted in a foreign port faced arrest on his return._
8. To fail someone abruptly at the very point it is needed most, said of a feeling, quality, or skill.
   - Simple: Used of a feeling, quality, or skill that suddenly fails a person at the moment they need it most.
   - _Even the best penalty takers know their skill can desert them in a shootout._
   - _Her famous sense of humor deserted her the moment the cameras started rolling._

## Noun

7. Obsolete form of dessert: the sweet course served at the end of a meal. *(obsolete)* — Obsolete form of dessert. (pronounced: say "di-ZURT" US /dɪˈzɝt/, UK /dɪˈzɜːt/)
   - Simple: Obsolete spelling of dessert: sweet food eaten after a meal, like cake or ice cream.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 5** — Latin dēserō ("to abandon") had the past participle dēsertum, which became Old French desert and then Middle English desert ("wilderness"). For the most part it pushed out the native Old English word wēsten.
**Meanings 3–4, 8** — Latin deserō ("to abandon") gave desertus and then Late Latin desertō, which French made into déserter, and English borrowed that.
**Meaning 6** — Vulgar Latin dēserviō, meaning "to gain or merit by giving service," became Old French deservir ("to deserve"), which produced deserte, and that led to Middle English desert.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/desert (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).