Dictionary: DES'E-CRA-TED – DE-SERV'ING-LY

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DES'E-CRA-TED, pp.

Diverted from a sacred purpose or appropriation; divested of a sacred character or office.

DES'E-CRA-TING, ppr.

Diverting from a purpose to which a thing is consecrated; divested of a sacred character or office.

DES-E-CRA'TION, n.

The act of diverting from a sacred purpose or use to which a thing had been devoted; the act of diverting from a sacred character or office.

DE-SEGNO, adv. [De segno; It.]

In music, a direction to repeat from the sign.

DES'ERT, a. [s as z; L. desertus, desero; de and sere, to sow, plant or scatter; Fr. desert; Sp. desierto.]

  1. Literally, forsaken; hence, uninhabited; as, a desert isle. Hence, wild; unfilled; waste; uncultivated; as, a desert land or country.
  2. Void; empty; unoccupied. Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, / And waste its sweetness on the desert air. – Gray.

DES'ERT, n.1 [L. desertum.]

An uninhabited tract of land; a region in its natural state; a wilderness; a solitude; particularly, a vast sandy plain, as the deserts of Arabia and Africa. But the word may be applied to an uninhabited country covered with wood.

DE-SERT', n.2 [from deserve.]

  1. A deserving; that which gives a right to reward or demands, or which renders liable to punishment; merit or demerit; that which entitles to a recompense of equal value, or demands a punishment equal to the offense; good conferred, or evil done, which merits an equivalent return. A wise legislature will reward or punish men according to their deserts.
  2. That which is deserved; reward or punishment merited. In a future life, every man will receive his desert.

DE-SERT', v.i.

To run away; to quit a service without permission; as, to desert from the army.

DE-SERT', v.t. [Fr. deserter, from the adjective, and this from the L. desertus, desero, to forsake.]

  1. To forsake; to leave utterly; to abandon; to quit with a view not to return to; as, to desert a friend; to desert our country; to desert a cause.
  2. To leave without permission, a military band, or a ship, in which one is enlisted; to forsake the service in which one is engaged, in violation of duty; as, to desert the army; to desert one's colors; to desert a ship.

DE-SERT'ED, pp.

Wholly forsaken; abandoned; left.

DE-SERT'ER, n.

A person who forsakes his cause, his post, or his party or friend; particularly, a soldier or seaman who quits the service without permission, and in violation of his engagement.

DE-SERT'FUL, a.

High in desert; meritorious. – Beaum.

DE-SERT'ING, ppr.

Forsaking utterly; abandoning.

DE-SER'TION, n.

  1. The act of forsaking or abandoning, as a party, a friend, a country, an army or military band, or a ship; the act of quitting, with an intention not to return.
  2. The state of being forsaken by God; spiritual despondency. The agonies of a soul under desertion. – South.

DE-SERT'LESS, a.

Without merit or claim to favor or reward. – Dryden.

DE-SERT'LESS-LY, adv.

Undeservedly. – Beaum.

DE-SERT'RICE, or DE-SERT'RIX, n.

A female who deserts. – Milton.

DE-SERVE', v.i. [dezerv'.]

To merit; to be worthy of or deserving; as, he deserves well or ill of his neighbor.

DE-SERVE', v.t. [deserv'; L. deservio; de and servio, to serve. The Fr. deservir is not used.]

  1. To merit; to be worthy of; applied to good or evil.
  2. To merit by labor or services; to have a just claim to an equivalent for good conferred. The laborer deserves his wages; he deserves the value of his services.
  3. To merit by good actions or qualities in general; to be worthy of, on account of excellence. The virtuous man deserves esteem and commendation. A work of value deserves praise.
  4. To be worthy of, in a bad sense; to merit by an evil act; as, to deserve blame or punishment. God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth. – Job xi.

DE-SERV'ED, pp.

Merited; worthy of.

DE-SERV'ED-LY, adv.

Justly; according to desert, whether of good or evil. A man may be deservedly praised, blamed, or punished.

DE-SERV'ER, n.

He who deserves or merits; one who is worthy of; used generally in a good sense. – Dryden.

DE-SERV'ING, n.

The act of meriting; desert; merit. If ye have done to him according to the deserving of his hands. – Judges ix.

DE-SERV'ING, ppr.

  1. Meriting; having a just claim to reward; justly meriting punishment.
  2. adj. Worthy of reward or praise; meritorious; possessed of good qualities that entitle to approbation; as, a deserving officer.

DE-SERV'ING-LY, adv.

Meritoriously; with just desert.