Other forms: deserters
A deserter is a soldier who runs away from duty. Shot as a deserter, hunt for the deserter, brand him a deserter.
In wartime it was a capital offence in most armies — over three hundred British soldiers were shot for it in the First World War, and all were pardoned in 2006 once shell shock was understood. Desertion means leaving with no intention of returning.
1noundeserterA soldier who runs away from duty.
“The deserter hid in a farmhouse, afraid he would be shot if he was found.”
deserter is a soldier.
Latin desertor comes from deserere, to abandon — de, away, plus serere, to join. Desert the verb is the same word.
Proto-Indo-European
*ser- (bind)
Latin
desertor — deserter
English, today
deserter
Built from
Borrowed from Latin desertor (“deserter”), from desero (“to forsake, to abandon”); or from desert + er.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA