1. A barren or desolate area, especially: a. A dry, often sandy region of little rainfall, extreme temperatures, and sparse vegetation. b. A region of permanent cold that is largely or entirely devoid of life. c. An apparently lifeless area of water. 2. An empty or forsaken place; a wasteland: a cultural desert.3.Archaic A wild, uncultivated, and uninhabited region.
ADJECTIVE:
1. Of, relating to, characteristic of, or inhabiting a desert: desert fauna.2. Barren and uninhabited; desolate: a desert island.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin dsertum, from neuter past participle of dserere, to desert. See desert3.
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sertum, from neuter past participle of d
