'Desertion' definitions:

Definition of 'desertion'

(from WordNet)
noun
Withdrawing support or help despite allegiance or responsibility; "his abandonment of his wife and children left them penniless" [syn: desertion, abandonment, defection]
noun
The act of giving something up [syn: abandonment, forsaking, desertion]

Definition of 'Desertion'

From: GCIDE
  • Desertion \De*ser"tion\ (d[-e]*z[~e]r"sh[u^]n), n. [L. desertio: cf. F. d['e]sertion.]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • Such a resignation would have seemed to his superior a desertion or a reproach. --Bancroft. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. The state of being forsaken; desolation; as, the king in his desertion. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Abandonment by God; spiritual despondency. [1913 Webster]
  • The spiritual agonies of a soul under desertion. --South. [1913 Webster]