desert

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
desert1 /dɪˈzəːt/

▶verb

• 1 callously or treacherously abandon.

• 2 (usu. as adj. deserted) leave (a place), causing it to appear empty.

• 3 illegally leave the armed forces.

– derivatives
desertion noun.

– origin ME: from OFr. deserter, from late L. desertare, from L. desertus (see desert2).

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
desert2 /ˈdɛzət/

▶noun

• 1 a waterless, desolate area of land with little or no vegetation, typically covered with sand.

• 2 a situation or area considered dull and uninteresting: a cultural desert.

▶adjective like a desert; uninhabited and desolate.

– origin ME: via OFr. from late L. desertum ‘something left waste’, neut. past part. of deserere ‘leave, forsake’.