Desecrate
(Des"e*crate) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Desecrated ; p. pr. & vb. n. Desecrating ] [L. desecratus,
p. p. of desecrare (also desacrare) to consecrate, dedicate; but taken in the sense if to divest of a
sacred character; de- + sacrare to consecrate, fr. sacer sacred. See Sacred.] To divest of a sacred
character or office; to divert from a sacred purpose; to violate the sanctity of; to profane; to put to an unworthy
use; — the opposite of consecrate.
The [Russian] clergy can not suffer corporal punishment without being previously desecrated.
W. Tooke.
The founders of monasteries imprecated evil on those who should desecrate their donations.
Salmon. Desecrater
(Des"e*cra`ter) n. One who desecrates; a profaner. Harper's Mag.
Desecration
(Des`e*cra"tion) n. The act of desecrating; profanation; condition of anything desecrated.
Desecrator
(Des"e*cra`tor) n. One who desecrates. "Desecrators of the church." Morley.
Desegmentation
(De*seg`men*ta"tion) n. (Anat.) The loss or obliteration of division into segments; as,
a desegmentation of the body.
Desert
(De*sert") n. [OF. deserte, desserte, merit, recompense, fr. deservir, desservir, to merit.
See Deserve.] That which is deserved; the reward or the punishment justly due; claim to recompense,
usually in a good sense; right to reward; merit.
According to their deserts will I judge them.
Ezek. vii. 27.
Andronicus, surnamed Pius
For many good and great deserts to Rome.
Shak.
His reputation falls far below his desert.
A. Hamilton. Syn. — Merit; worth; excellence; due.
Desert
(Des"ert) n. [F. désert, L. desertum, from desertus solitary, desert, pp. of deserere to desert;
de- + serere to join together. See Series.]
1. A deserted or forsaken region; a barren tract incapable of supporting population, as the vast sand
plains of Asia and Africa which are destitute of moisture and vegetation.
A dreary desert and a gloomy waste.
Pope. 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
(Des"ert), a. [Cf. L. desertus, p. p. of deserere, and F. désert. 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.
