deserter
/ˈdezətə/DEH-zur-tur
UK form converted from the US by rule · unchecked/ˈdɛzɚtɚ/DEH-zur-tur
Meaningone who deserts
Common meaning: someone who leaves duty, especially a soldier
Tap a word part to explore
- dedown, away, off; undoing
- sertto join, linkLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1680 · scan
- eragent ending: one who
‘down, away, off’ + ‘to join, link’ → deserter
Journey through time
- Latinserō, seruī, sertum‘to join, link’
- Middle Englishdesertsource
- Englishdesert‘to leave and not come back’
- Englishformed in English from desertdeserter‘someone who leaves duty, especially a soldier’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from desert + -er.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), DESERT, p.162 · scan
Roots
- serō, seruī, sertum Latin “to join, link”
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