Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A person who forsakes his cause, his duty, his party, or his friends; particularly, a soldier or seaman who absents himself from his position without leave, and without the intention of returning.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (d�*zẽrt"ẽr) One who forsakes a duty, a cause or a party, a friend, or any one to whom he owes service; especially, a soldier or a seaman who abandons the service without leave; one guilty of desertion.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A person who has physically removed him- or herself from the control or direction of a military or naval unit with the intention of permanently leaving
  • noun Under the United States Code of Military Justice, a person who has been placed on AWOL status for more than 30 days

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a disloyal person who betrays or deserts his cause or religion or political party or friend etc.
  • noun a person who abandons their duty (as on a military post)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin desertor ("deserter"), from desero ("I forsake, I abandon")

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