Meaning

noun a person who abandons their duty (as on a military post)

originEtymology tree Proto-Indo-European *de Proto-Indo-European *-h₁ Proto-Indo-European *déh₁ Proto-Italic *dē Latin dē Latin de- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁k- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁kyéti Proto-Italic *θakjō Proto-Italic *fakjō Latin facio Latin dēficiō Proto-Indo-European *-tōr Proto-Italic *-tōr Latin -tor Latin dēfectorbor. English defector Borrowed from Latin dēfector.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0