derelict
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdɛr.ə.lɪkt/
ipa: /ˈdɛɹəˌlɪk(t)/
Forms: form: more derelict
form: most derelict
Etymology: PIE word
 *de
The adjective and verb are a learned borrowing from Latin dērelictus (“(completely) abandoned, deserted, forsaken; discarded”), the perfect passive participle of dērelinquō (“to abandon, desert, forsake; to discard”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘away from; completely, thoroughly’) + relinquō (“to abandon, desert, forsake, leave (behind); to depart (from); to give up, relinquish”) (from Proto-Italic *wrelinkʷō, from *wre (“again”) (whence Latin rē- (prefix meaning ‘again’)) + *linkʷō (“to leave”) (whence linquō (“to forsake; depart from, leave, quit”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave”))). Doublet of relict, relic, and relinquish.
The noun is derived from the adjective.
Senses: examples: text: [T]heſe affections, vvhich theſe expoſed or derelict children bear to their Mothers, have no grounds of nature or aſſiduity but civility and opinion; […]
ref: 1649, Jer[emy] Taylor, “Discourse I. Of Nursing Children in Imitation of the Blessed Virgin-Mother.”, in The Great Exemplar of Sanctity and Holy Life According to the Christian Institution. […], London: […] R. N. for Francis Ash, […], →OCLC, 3rd part, paragraph 2, page 37:
text: We may be pardoned our nostalgia, those of us who can remember the old days, the days before the grouping and before standardisation, when we see, as today we see so often, the derelict and abandoned buildings of what were once railway stations, for the life which they used to enjoy we lived with them. There they stand, today, as the dusk deepens about them, lampless, cold and deserted.
ref: 1953 April, Henry Maxwell, “Abandoned Railway Stations”, in Railway Magazine, page 270:
synonyms: word: dropped
word: forlorn
word: abandoned
word: derelict
word: deserted
word: desolate
word: discarded
word: dropped
word: forlorn
word: forsaken
word: high and dry
word: left behind
word: orphaned
glosses: Given up by the guardian or owner; abandoned, forsaken.
examples: text: There was a derelict ship on the island.
text: An imaginative illustration showing how a space tow-boat (lower left), operating with a plasma electric rocket motor, takes a derelict satellite out of the traffic lanes in deep space.
ref: 1962, Will Eisner, “Rocket Motors”, in Charles Kramer, editor, America’s Space Vehicles: A Pictorial Review, New York, N.Y.: Sterling Publishing Co., →OCLC, image caption, page 56:
text: When and where did NASA's derelict satellite go down? [title]
ref: 2011 September 24, Adrian West, “When and Where did NASA’s Derelict Satellite Go Down?”, in Gizmodo, archived from the original on 09 Aug 2022:
synonyms: word: dropped
word: forlorn
word: abandoned
word: derelict
word: deserted
word: desolate
word: discarded
word: dropped
word: forlorn
word: forsaken
word: high and dry
word: left behind
word: orphaned
glosses: Given up by the guardian or owner; abandoned, forsaken.
Of a ship: abandoned at sea; of a spacecraft: abandoned in outer space.
examples: text: There is much sad evidence, too, of the spoliation and dereliction of vanished industry: tips, slag-heaps and derelict colliery-screens among which the ubiquitous, nomad mountain sheep graze unconcernedly.
ref: 1955 July, D. S. Barrie, “Railways of the Bridgend District”, in Railway Magazine, page 449:
synonyms: word: crumbling
word: rundown
word: shabby
word: tacky
word: scroungy
word: beat
word: beat up
word: beaten up
word: bedraggled
word: broken-down
word: crumbling
word: derelict
word: dilapidated
word: draggled
word: neglected
word: ramshackle
word: ruinous
word: run-down
word: seedy
word: tatterdemalion
word: timeworn
word: tumbledown
glosses: Of property: in a poor state due to abandonment or neglect; dilapidated, neglected.
examples: text: Deprived of his guiding influence, they vvere vvhirled about, the ſport of every guſt, and eaſily driven into any port; and as thoſe vvho joined vvith them in manning the veſſel vvere the moſt directly oppoſite to his opinions, meaſures, and character, and far the moſt artful and moſt povverful of the ſet, they eaſily prevailed, ſo as to ſeize upon the vacant, unoccupied, and derelict minds of his friends; and inſtantly they turned the veſſel vvholly out of the courſe of his policy.
ref: 1774 April 19, Edmund Burke, Speech of Edmund Burke, Esq. on American Taxation, April 19, 1774, 2nd edition, London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], published 1775, →OCLC, page 79:
synonyms: anchorless
glosses: Adrift, lost.
examples: text: The wrongs which we have suffered from Mexico are before the world, and must deeply impress every American citizen. A Government which is either unable or unwilling to redress such wrongs is derelict to its highest duties.
ref: 1859 December 19 (date delivered), John Buchanan, “The President’s Message [Third State of the Union Address]”, in The Albion, volume 37, number 53, New York, N.Y.: W. Young & Co., published 31 December 1859, →OCLC, page 630, column 1:
synonyms: word: neglectful
word: unfaithful
word: careless
word: remiss
word: cursory
word: derelict
word: heedless
word: irregardless
word: irrespective
word: negligent
word: reckless
word: regardless
word: slapdash
word: sloppy
word: slovenly
word: slipshod
word: unfaithful
glosses: Negligent in performing a duty; careless.
Derived terms: word: derelictly
word: derelictness
word: dero
word: derro
english: derelict building
translation: derelict building
word: derry
word: semiderelict
Related terms: dereliction
relic
relict
relinquish