Standard Lemma guide

desertion

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /dɪˈzɜːʃən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /dɪˈzɝʃən/
  • rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)ʃən
  • CMU ARPABET: D IH0 Z ER1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act of deserting.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

withdrawing support or help despite allegiance or responsibility

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • his abandonment of his wife and children left them penniless

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: abandonment, defection

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: withdrawal

Narrower terms: abscondment, decampment, absence without leave, unauthorized absence, deviationism

3

noun

Meaning 3

the act of giving something up

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: abandonment, forsaking

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: rejection

Narrower terms: exposure, apostasy, tergiversation, bolt

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French désertion.

Across languages

Translations

91 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: dezertim — deserting
  • Arabic: فِرَار (firār) — deserting
  • Arabic: هَجْر (hajr) — deserting
  • Arabic: هَرَب (harab) — deserting
  • Arabic: هِجْرَان (hijrān) — deserting
  • Armenian: դասալքություն (dasalkʻutʻyun) — deserting
  • Azerbaijani: fərarilik — deserting
  • Azerbaijani: dezertirlik — deserting
  • Belarusian: дэзерці́рства (dezjercírstva) — deserting
  • Belarusian: дэзэрты́рства (dezertýrstva) — deserting
  • Bulgarian: изоста́вяне (izostávjane) — deserting
  • Bulgarian: напу́скане (napúskane) — deserting
  • Bulgarian: дезертьо́рство (dezertjórstvo) — deserting
  • Catalan: deserció — deserting
  • Chinese Mandarin: 遺棄 /遗弃 (yíqì) — deserting
  • Chinese Mandarin: 開小差 /开小差 (kāi xiǎochāi) — deserting
  • Chinese Mandarin: 逃亡 (táowáng) — deserting
  • Czech: dezerce — deserting
  • Danish: faneflugt — deserting
  • Danish: desertering — deserting
  • Danish: desertion — deserting
  • Danish: desertation — deserting
  • Dutch: desertie — deserting
  • Dutch: vaandelvlucht — deserting
  • Esperanto: forlasiĝo — deserting
  • Estonian: deserteerimine — deserting
  • Estonian: väejooks — deserting
  • French: désertion — deserting
  • Georgian: დეზერტირობა (dezerṭiroba) — deserting
  • German: Fahnenflucht — deserting
  • German: Desertion — deserting
  • German: Desertation — deserting
  • Greek: λιποταξία (lipotaxía) — deserting
  • Ancient Greek: ἀυτομολία (automolía) — deserting
  • Hebrew: עֲרִיקָה ('ariqá) — deserting
  • Hindi: परित्याग (parityāg) — deserting
  • Hindi: अपसरण (apasraṇ) — deserting
  • Hungarian: szökés — deserting
  • Indonesian: desersi — deserting
  • Italian: diserzione — deserting
  • Japanese: 逃亡 (tōbō) — deserting
  • Japanese: 脱走 (dassō) — deserting
  • Japanese: 遺棄 (iki) — deserting
  • Japanese: 敵前逃亡 (tekizen tōbō) — deserting
  • Japanese: 脱営 (datsuei) — deserting
  • Kazakh: қашқындық (qaşqyndyq) — deserting
  • Kazakh: қашушылық (qaşuşylyq) — deserting
  • Korean: 탈영 (taryeong) — deserting
  • Korean: 도망 (domang) — deserting
  • Korean: 유기 (yugi) — deserting
  • Kyrgyz: дезертирдик (dezertirdik) — deserting
  • Kyrgyz: качкынчылык (kackıncılık) — deserting
  • Kyrgyz: аскерден качуу (askerden kacuu) — deserting
  • Latin: dēfectiō — deserting
  • Latvian: dezertēšana — deserting
  • Lithuanian: dezertyravimas — deserting
  • Macedonian: дезерте́рство (dezertérstvo) — deserting
  • Norwegian Bokmål: desertering — deserting
  • Pashto: فراريت (farāryat) — deserting
  • Pashto: فرار (farār) — deserting
  • Persian: فرار (farâr) — deserting
  • Persian: فرار (ferâr) — deserting
  • Polish: opuszczenie — deserting
  • Polish: dezercja — deserting
  • Portuguese: deserção — deserting
  • Romanian: dezertare — deserting
  • Russian: ухо́д (uxód) — deserting
  • Russian: оставле́ние (ostavlénije) — deserting
  • Russian: дезерти́рство (dezertírstvo) — deserting
  • Serbo-Croatian: дезерте́рство — deserting
  • Serbo-Croatian: напу́шта̄ње — deserting
  • Serbo-Croatian: dezertérstvo — deserting
  • Serbo-Croatian: napúštānje — deserting
  • Slovak: dezercia — deserting
  • Slovene: dezerterstvo — deserting
  • Slovene: zapustitev — deserting
  • Spanish: deserción — deserting
  • Swedish: desertering — deserting
  • Swedish: fanflykt — deserting
  • Tajik: фирор (firor) — deserting
  • Turkish: firar — deserting
  • Turkish: askerden kaçma — deserting
  • Ukrainian: зали́шення (zalýšennja) — deserting
  • Ukrainian: зане́дбаність (zanédbanistʹ) — deserting
  • Ukrainian: дезерти́рство (dezertýrstvo) — deserting
  • Urdu: فرار (firār) — deserting
  • Uzbek: dezertirlik — deserting
  • Vietnamese: sự đào ngũ — deserting
  • Yiddish: אַוועקוואַרפֿונג (avekvarfung) — deserting
  • Zazaki: remayış — deserting
  • Zazaki: firar — deserting