Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Desertion"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Desertion \De*ser"tion\, n. [L. desertio: cf. F. d['e]sertion.]
1. The act of deserting or forsaking; abandonment of a
service, a cause, a party, a friend, or any post of duty;
the quitting of one's duties willfully and without right;
esp., an absconding from military or naval service.
Such a resignation would have seemed to his superior
a desertion or a reproach. --Bancroft.
2. The state of being forsaken; desolation; as, the king in
his desertion.
3. Abandonment by God; spiritual despondency.
The spiritual agonies of a soul under desertion.
--South.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
desertion
n 1: withdrawing support or help despite allegiance or
responsibility; "his abandonment of his wife and
children left them penniless" [syn: {abandonment}, {defection}]
2: the act of giving something up [syn: {abandonment}, {forsaking}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.