desertion

Noun
Synonyms: abandonmentdefectionforsaking

WordNet 3.0

Noun (2)

  1. withdrawing support or help despite allegiance or responsibility“his abandonment of his wife and children left them penniless”Synonyms: abandonmentdefection
  2. the act of giving something upSynonyms: abandonmentforsaking
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Webster's Dictionary (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]
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