Etymograph

English

desert

Desert comes from Middle English desert ‘wilderness’, from Old French desert, from Latin dēsertum, past participle of dēserō ‘to abandon’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēserō‘to abandon’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēsertum‘abandoned (place)’past participle of dēserō
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400desert
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500desert‘wilderness’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1591desert

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēserō‘to abandon’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēsertum‘abandoned (place)’past participle of dēserō
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400desert
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500desert‘wilderness’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1591desert

Earliest quotation: 1591, Edmund Spenser, Daughter and Heire of Henry Lord Howard: “And ye poore Pilgrimes, that vvith reſtleſſe toyle VVearie…”

The story

Generally displaced native Old English wēsten.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to flow’

service, sort, stream, hero, serve, conservative, reservoir, conservatism, sermon, concierge, sorcery, sorcerer, heresy, heretic, observant, sark, assertive, servitude, conservator, strudel, servile, serf, 34 more

through Proto-Italic *serō ‘to join, bind, link’

assertion, 3 more

through Latin serō ‘to bind, join’

season, series, serial, insert, exert, soiree, soirée, cerrado, sere, 9 more

Another origin of desert

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-‘to flow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*séretireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*serō‘to join, bind, link’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEserō‘to bind, join’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēserō‘abandon’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēsertus‘deserted, abandoned, forsaken’
  7. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEdēsertō
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presentdéserter
  9. Englishtodaydesert

Another origin of desert

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*serweyétiuncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*serwijetiuncertain
  3. Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*serwijituncertain
  4. Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*serwiō‘to watch, observe’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEserviō‘to be a slave to’
  6. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEdēserviō‘to gain or merit by giving service’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400deservir‘to deserve’
  8. Old French, derivedc. 842–1400deserte
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500desert‘the situation of deserving something’
  10. Englishtodaydesert

Today it means

noun A barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin dēserō / desert

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