Chapter 420

2. A tract, which may be capable of sustaining a population, but has been left unoccupied and uncultivated; a wilderness; a solitary place.

He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Is. li. 3.

Also figuratively.

Before her extended Dreary and vast and silent, the desert of life. Longfellow.

Desert <Xpage=397>

Des"ert , a. [Cf. L. desertus , p. p. of deserere , and F. d\'82sert . See 2d Desert .] Of or pertaining to a desert; forsaken; without life or cultivation; unproductive; waste; barren; wild; desolate; solitary; as, they landed on a desert island .

He . . . went aside privately into a desert place. Luke ix. 10.

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air. Gray.

Desert flora (Bot.) , the assemblage of plants growing naturally in a desert, or in a dry and apparently unproductive place. -- Desert hare (Zo\'94l.) , a small hare ( Lepus sylvaticus , var. Arizon\'91 ) inhabiting the deserts of the Western United States. -- Desert mouse (Zo\'94l.) , an American mouse ( Hesperomys eremicus ), living in the Western deserts.

Desert <Xpage=397>

De*sert" (?) , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Deserted ; p. pr. & vb. n. Deserting .] [Cf. L. desertus , p. p. of deserere to desert, F. d\'82serter . See 2d Desert .]

1. To leave (especially something which one should stay by and support); to leave in the lurch; to abandon; to forsake; -- implying blame, except sometimes when used of localities ; as, to desert a friend, a principle, a cause, one's country . "The deserted fortress."

Prescott.

2. (Mil.) To abandon (the service) without leave; to forsake in violation of duty; to abscond from; as, to desert the army; to desert one's colors.

Desert <Xpage=397>

De*sert" , v. i. To abandon a service without leave; to quit military service without permission, before the expiration of one's term; to abscond.

The soldiers . . . deserted in numbers. Bancroft.

Syn. -- To abandon; forsake; leave; relinquish; renounce; quit; depart from; abdicate. See Abandon .

Deserter <Xpage=397>

De*sert"er (<?/) , n. One who forsakes a duty, a cause or a party, a friend, or any one to whom he owes service; especially, a soldier or a seaman who abandons the service without leave; one guilty of desertion.

Desertful <Xpage=397>

De*sert"ful (?) , a. Meritorious. [R.]

Beau. & Fl.

Desertion <Xpage=397>

De*ser"tion (?) , n. [L. desertio : cf. F. d\'82sertion .]

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.

Desertless <Xpage=397>

De*sert"less (?) , a. Without desert. [R.]

Desertlessly <Xpage=397>

De*sert"less*ly , adv. Undeservedly. [R.]

Beau. & Fl.

Desertness <Xpage=397>

Des"ert*ness (?) , n. A deserted condition. [R.] "The desertness of the country."

Udall.

Desertrix, Desertrice <Xpage=397>

De*sert"rix (?) , De*sert"rice (?) , n. [L. desertrix .] A feminine deserter.

Milton.

Deserve <Xpage=397>

De*serve" (?) , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Deserved (?) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Deserving .] [OF. deservir , desservir , to merit, L. deservire to serve zealously, be devoted to; de- + servire to serve. See Serve .]

1. To earn by service; to be worthy of (something due, either good or evil); to merit; to be entitled to; as, the laborer deserves his wages; a work of value deserves praise.

God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth . Job xi. 6.

John Gay deserved to be a favorite. Thackeray.

Encouragement is not held out to things that deserve reprehension. Burke.

2. To serve; to treat; to benefit. [Obs.]

A man that hath So well deserved me. Massinger.

Deserve <Xpage=397>

De*serve" (?) , v. i. To be worthy of recompense; -- usually with ill or with well .

One man may merit or deserve of another. South.

Deservedly <Xpage=397>

De*serv"ed*ly (?) , adv. According to desert (whether good or evil); justly.

Deservedness <Xpage=397>

De*serv"ed*ness , n. Meritoriousness.

Deserver <Xpage=397>

De*serv"er (?) , n. One who deserves.

Deserving <Xpage=397>

De*serv"ing , n. Desert; merit.

A person of great deservings from the republic. Swift.

Deserving <Xpage=397>

De*serv"ing , a. Meritorious; worthy; as, a deserving or act . -- De*serv"ing*ly , adv.

Deshabille <Xpage=397>

Des`ha*bille (?) , n. [F. d\'82shabill\'82 , fr. d\'82shabiller to undress; pref. d\'82s- (L. dis- ) + habiller to dress. See Habiliment , and cf. Dishabille .] An undress; a careless toilet.

Desiccant <Xpage=397>

De*sic"cant (?) , a. [L. desiccans , p. pr. of desiccare . See Desiccate .] Drying; desiccative. -- n. (Med.) A medicine or application for drying up a sore.

Wiseman.

Desiccate <Xpage=397>

Des"ic*cate (?; 277) , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Desiccated ; p. pr. & vb. n. Desiccating .] [L. desiccatus , p. p. of desiccare to dry up; de- + siccare to dry, siccus dry. See Sack wine.] To dry up; to deprive or exhaust of moisture; to preserve by drying; as, to desiccate fish or fruit .

Bodies desiccated by heat or age. Bacon.

Desiccate <Xpage=397>

Des"ic*cate , v. i. To become dry.

Desiccation <Xpage=397>

Des`ic*ca"tion (?) , n. [Cf. F. dessiccation .] The act of desiccating, or the state of being desiccated.

Desiccative <Xpage=397>

De*sic"ca*tive (?) , a. [Cf. F. dessicatif .] Drying; tending to dry. Ferrand . -- n. (Med.) An application for drying up secretions.

Desiccator <Xpage=397>

Des"ic*ca`tor (?) , n.

1. One who, or that which, desiccates.

2. (Chem.) A short glass jar fitted with an air-tight cover, and containing some desiccating agent, as sulphuric acid or calcium chloride, above which is suspended the material to be dried, or preserved from moisture.

Desiccatory <Xpage=397>

De*sic"ca*to*ry (?) , a. Desiccative.

Desiderable <Xpage=397>

De*sid"er*a*ble (?) , a. Desirable. [R.] "Good and desiderable things."

Holland.

Desiderata <Xpage=397>

De*sid`e*ra"ta (?) , n. pl. See Desideratum .

Desiderate <Xpage=397>

De*sid"er*ate (?) , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Desiderated ; p. pr. & vb. n. Desiderating .] [L. desideratus , p. p. of desiderare to desire, miss. See Desire , and cf. Desideratum .] To desire; to feel the want of; to lack; to miss; to want.

Pray have the goodness to point out one word missing that ought to have been there -- please to insert a desiderated stanza. You can not. Prof. Wilson.

Men were beginning . . . to desiderate for them an actual abode of fire. A. W. Ward.

Desideration <Xpage=397>

De*sid`er*a"tion (?) , n. [L. desideratio .] Act of desiderating; also, the thing desired. [R.]

Jeffrey.

Desiderative <Xpage=397>

De*sid"er*a*tive (?) , a. [L. desiderativus .] Denoting desire; as, desiderative verbs .

Desiderative <Xpage=397>

De*sid"er*a*tive , n.

1. An object of desire.

2. (Gram.) A verb formed from another verb by a change of termination, and expressing the desire of doing that which is indicated by the primitive verb.

Desideratum <Xpage=397>

De*sid`e*ra"tum (?) , n. ; pl. Desiderata (#) . [L., fr. desideratus , p. p. See Desiderate .] Anything desired; that of which the lack is felt; a want generally felt and acknowledge.

Desidiose, Desidious <Xpage=397>

De*sid"i*ose` (?) , De*sid"i*ous (?) , a. [L. desidiosus , fr. desidia a sitting idle, fr. desid<?/re to sit idle; de- + sed<?/re to sit.] Idle; lazy. [Obs.]

Desidiousness <Xpage=397>

De*sid"i*ous*ness , n. The state or quality of being desidiose, or indolent. [Obs.]

N. Bacon.

Desight <Xpage=397>

De*sight" (?) , n. [Pref. de- + sight .] An unsightly object. [Obs.]

Desightment <Xpage=397>

De*sight"ment (?) , n. The act of making unsightly; disfigurement. [R.]

To substitute jury masts at whatever desightment or damage in risk. London Times.

Design <Xpage=397>

De*sign" (?; 277) , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Designed (?) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Designing .] [F. d\'82signer to designate, cf. F. dessiner to draw, dessin drawing, dessein a plan or scheme; all, ultimately, from L. designare to designate; de- + signare to mark, mark out, signum mark, sign. See Sign , and cf. Design , n. , Designate .]

1. To draw preliminary outline or main features of; to sketch for a pattern or model; to delineate; to trace out; to draw.

Dryden.

2. To mark out and exhibit; to designate; to indicate; to show; to point out; to appoint.

We shall see Justice design the victor's chivalry. Shak.

Meet me to-morrow where the master And this fraternity shall design . Beau. & Fl.

3. To create or produce, as a work of art; to form a plan or scheme of; to form in idea; to invent; to project; to lay out in the mind; as, a man designs an essay, a poem, a statue, or a cathedral .

4. To intend or purpose; -- usually with for before the remote object, but sometimes with to .

Ask of politicians the end for which laws were originally designed . Burke.

He was designed to the study of the law. Dryden.

Syn. -- To sketch; plan; purpose; intend; propose; project; mean.

Design <Xpage=397>

De*sign" , v. i. To form a design or designs; to plan.

Design for , to intend to go to. [Obs.] "From this city she designed for Collin [Cologne]."

Evelyn.

<page="398"> Page 398

Design <Xpage=398>

De*sign" (?) , n. [Cf. dessein , dessin .]

1. A preliminary sketch; an outline or pattern of the main features of something to be executed, as of a picture, a building, or a decoration; a delineation; a plan.

2. A plan or scheme formed in the mind of something to be done; preliminary conception; idea intended to be expressed in a visible form or carried into action; intention; purpose; -- often used in a bad sense for evil intention or purpose; scheme; plot.

The vast design and purpos<?/ of the King. Tennyson.

The leaders of that assembly who withstood the designs of a besotted woman. Hallam.

A . . . settled design upon another man's life. Locke.

How little he could guess the secret designs of the court! Macaulay.

3. Specifically, intention or purpose as revealed or inferred from the adaptation of means to an end; as, the argument from design .

4. The realization of an inventive or decorative plan; esp., a work of decorative art considered as a new creation; conception or plan shown in completed work; as, this carved panel is a fine design , or of a fine design .

5. (Mus.) The invention and conduct of the subject; the disposition of every part, and the general order of the whole.

Arts of design , those into which the designing of artistic forms and figures enters as a principal part, as architecture, painting, engraving, sculpture. -- School of design , one in which are taught the invention and delineation of artistic or decorative figures, patterns, and the like.

Syn. -- Intention; purpose; scheme; project; plan; idea. -- Design , Intention , Purpose . Design has reference to something definitely aimed at. Intention points to the feelings or desires with which a thing is sought. Purpose has reference to a settled choice or determination for its attainment. "I had no design to injure you," means it was no part of my aim or object. "I had no intention to injure you," means, I had no wish or desire of that kind. "My purpose was directly the reverse," makes the case still stronger.

Is he a prudent man . . . that lays designs only for a day, without any prospect to the remaining part of his life? Tillotson.

I wish others the same intention , and greater successes. Sir W. Temple.

It is the purpose that makes strong the vow. Shak.

Designable <Xpage=398>

Des"ig*na*ble (?) , a. Capable of being designated or distinctly marked out; distinguishable.

Boyle.

Designate <Xpage=398>

Des"ig*nate (?) , a. [L. designatus , p. p. of designare . See Design , v. t. ] Designated; appointed; chosen. [R.]

Sir G. Buck.

Designate <Xpage=398>

Des"ig*nate (?) , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Designated ; p. pr. & vb. n. Designating .]

1. To mark out and make known; to point out; to name; to indicate; to show; to distinguish by marks or description; to specify; as, to designate the boundaries of a country; to designate the rioters who are to be arrested.

2. To call by a distinctive title; to name.

3. To indicate or set apart for a purpose or duty; -- with to or for ; to designate an officer for or to the command of a post or station.

Syn. -- To name; denominate; style; entitle; characterize; describe.

Designation <Xpage=398>

Des`ig*na"tion (?) , n. [L. designatio : cf. F. d\'82signation .]

1. The act of designating; a pointing out or showing; indication.

2. Selection and appointment for a purpose; allotment; direction.

3. That which designates; a distinguishing mark or name; distinctive title; appellation.

The usual designation of the days of the week. Whewell.

4. Use or application; import; intention; signification, as of a word or phrase.

Finite and infinite seem . . . to be attributed primarily, in their first designation , only to those things have parts. Locke.

Designative <Xpage=398>

Des"ig*na*tive (?) , a. [Cf. F. d\'82signatif .] Serving to designate or indicate; pointing out.

Designator <Xpage=398>

Des"ig*na`tor (?) , n. [L.]

1. (Rom. Antiq.) An officer who assigned to each his rank and place in public shows and ceremonies.

2. One who designates.

Designatory <Xpage=398>

Des"ig*na*to*ry (?) , a. Serving to designate; designative; indicating. [R.]

Designedly <Xpage=398>

De*sign"ed*ly (?) , adv. By design; purposely; intentionally; -- opposed to accidentally , ignorantly , or inadvertently .

Designer <Xpage=398>

De*sign"er (?) , n.

1. One who designs, marks out, or plans; a contriver.

2. (Fine Arts) One who produces or creates original works of art or decoration.

3. A plotter; a schemer; -- used in a bad sense.

Designful <Xpage=398>

De*sign"ful (?) , a. Full of design; scheming. [R.] -- De*sign"ful*ness , n. [R.]

Barrow.

Designing <Xpage=398>

De*sign"ing , a. Intriguing; artful; scheming; as, a designing man .

Designing <Xpage=398>

De*sign"ing , n. The act of making designs or sketches; the act of forming designs or plans.

Designless <Xpage=398>

De*sign"less , a. Without design. [Obs.] -- De*sign"less*ly , adv. [Obs.]

Designment <Xpage=398>

De*sign"ment (?) , n.

1. Delineation; sketch; design; ideal; invention. [Obs.]

For though that some mean artist's skill were shown In mingling colors, or in placing light, Yet still the fair designment was his own. Dryden.

2. Design; purpose; scheme. [Obs.]

Shak.

Desilver <Xpage=398>

De*sil"ver (?) , v. t. To deprive of silver; as, to desilver lead .

Desilverization <Xpage=398>

De*sil`ver*i*za"tion (?) , n. The act or the process of freeing from silver; also, the condition resulting from the removal of silver.

Desilverize <Xpage=398>

De*sil"ver*ize (?) , v. t. To deprive, or free from, silver; to remove silver from.

Desinence <Xpage=398>

Des"i*nence (?) , n. [Cf. F. d\'82sinence .] Termination; ending.

Bp. Hall.

Desinent <Xpage=398>

Des"i*nent (?) , a. [L. desinens , p. pr. of desinere , desitum , to leave off, cease; de- + sinere to let, allow.] Ending; forming an end; lowermost. [Obs.] "Their desinent parts, fish."

B. Jonson.

Desinential <Xpage=398>

Des`i*nen"tial (?) , a. [Cf. F. d\'82sinentiel .] Terminal.

Furthermore, b , as a desinential element, has a dynamic function. Fitzed. Hall.

Desipient <Xpage=398>

De*sip"i*ent (?) , a. [L. desipiens , p. pr. of desipere to be foolish; de- + sapere to be wise.] Foolish; silly; trifling. [R.]

Desirability <Xpage=398>

De*sir`a*bil"i*ty , n. The state or quality of being desirable; desirableness.

Desirable <Xpage=398>

De*sir"a*ble (?) , a. [F. d\'82sirable , fr. L. desiderabilis . See Desire , v. t. ] Worthy of desire or longing; fitted to excite desire or a wish to possess; pleasing; agreeable.

All of them desirable young men. Ezek. xxiii. 12.

As things desirable excite Desire, and objects move the appetite. Blackmore.

Desirableness <Xpage=398>

De*sir"a*ble*ness , n. The quality of being desirable.