desert

/ˈde-zərt/

Middle English, "barren expanse of land (either wooded or arid), wasteland," borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin dēserta "unfrequented places, wilderness," noun derivative from neuter plural (feminine singular in Late Latin) of dēsertus "empty of people, uninhabited"

noun

  1. arid land with usually sparse vegetation; especially : such land having a very warm climate and receiving less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of sporadic rainfall annually

  2. an area of water apparently devoid of life

  3. a desolate or forbidding area

adjective

  1. desolate and sparsely occupied or unoccupied

  2. of or relating to a desert

  3. forsaken

a desert island

verb

  1. to withdraw from or leave usually without intent to return

  2. to leave in the lurch

  3. to abandon (military service) without leave

desert a town

abandon desert forsake mean to leave without intending to return. abandon suggests that the thing or person left may be helpless without protection. desert implies that the object left may be weakened but not destroyed by one's absence.