Meaning

noun arid land with little or no vegetation

verb leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch

verb desert (a cause, a country or an army), often in order to join the opposing cause, country, or army

originFrom Middle English desert (“wilderness”), from Old French desert, from Latin dēsertum, past participle of dēserō (“to abandon”). Generally displaced native Old English wēsten. False cognate of Egyptian dšrt.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0