derelict
Part of speech: adj
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: law
Etymology: 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.
Inflected forms:
form: more derelict
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most derelict
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: derelicts
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Given up by the guardian or owner; abandoned, forsaken.
pos: adj
examples: [T]heſe affections, vvhich theſe expoſed or derelict children bear to their Mothers, have no grounds of nature or aſſiduity but civility and opinion; […]
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.
gloss: Given up by the guardian or owner; abandoned, forsaken.
pos: adj
tags: specifically
examples: There was a derelict ship on the island.
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.
When and where did NASA's derelict satellite go down? [title]
gloss: Of property: in a poor state due to abandonment or neglect; dilapidated, neglected.
pos: adj
tags: broadly
examples: 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.
gloss: Adrift, lost.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
examples: 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.
gloss: Negligent in performing a duty; careless.
pos: adj
tags: US
examples: 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.
gloss: Property abandoned by its former guardian or owner; (countable) an item of such property.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: But often it must have happened in a course of centuries, that plague, small-pox, cholera, the sweating-sickness, or other scourges of universal Europe and Asia, would absolutely depopulate a region no larger than an island; […] In such cases, mere strangers would oftentimes enter upon the lands as a derelict.
gloss: Property abandoned by its former guardian or owner; (countable) an item of such property.
pos: noun
tags: specifically
uncountable
examples: Till I came to the marge of Lake Lebarge, and a derelict there lay; / It was jammed in the ice, but I saw in a trice it was called the "Alice May." / And I looked at it, and I thought a bit, and I looked at my frozen chum: / Then "Here," said I, with a sudden cry, "is my cre-ma-tor-eum."
gloss: An abandoned or forsaken person; an outcast, a waif.
pos: noun
tags: countable
dated
examples: And, think you, will the unkind ones hesitate / To try conclusions with my helplessness,— / To pounce on, misuse me, your derelict, / Helped by advantage that bereavement lends / Folks, who, while yet you lived, played tricks like these?
A rather pathetic figure, the Lady Frances, a beautiful woman, still in fresh middle age, and yet, by a strange chance, the last derelict of what only twenty years ago was a goodly fleet.
gloss: A homeless or jobless person; a vagrant; also, a person who is (perceived as) negligent in their hygiene and personal affairs.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
countable
derogatory
examples: A very gratifying development of the work in this office has been the gradual improvement in the class and type of applicants. […] This improvement is due, in part to the arrangement with the Federal Employment office whereby the latter handles the common labor, in which group there is always a large percentage of transients, derelicts and loafers, hoboes and ne'er-do-wells.
Only she must have men—understand? If they're lazy derelicts and ne'er-do-wells she'll eat 'em up. But she's waiting for real men—British to the bone— […]
As they hunt, the Archers and Duval find many derelicts and ne'er-do-wells in many parts of Paris.
[P]ublic charity has been permeated with judgments about the moral character of the poor. […] We see the distinction at work when victims of natural disasters and terrorist attacks are treated more generously than derelicts and drug addicts.
gloss: A person who is negligent in performing a duty.
pos: noun
tags: US
countable
Related words: dereliction
relic
relict
relinquish
Derived words: derelictly
derelictness
dero
derro
derry
semiderelict
Translations:
lang: Azerbaijani
word: atılmış
lang: Azerbaijani
word: baxımsız
lang: Azerbaijani
word: nəzarətsiz
lang: Azerbaijani
word: tərk edilmiş
lang: Bulgarian
word: изоставен
roman: izostaven
lang: Bulgarian
word: напуснат
roman: napusnat
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 荒廢的 /荒废的
roman: huāngfèi de
lang: Dutch
word: instorten
lang: Dutch
word: uiteenvallen
lang: Dutch
word: verlaten
lang: Dutch
word: verwaarloosd
lang: Finnish
word: hylätty
lang: French
word: abandonné
lang: French
word: délaissé
lang: French
word: (tombé) en ruines
lang: Georgian
word: აოხრებული
roman: aoxrebuli
lang: Georgian
word: გაჩანაგებული
roman: gačanagebuli
lang: Georgian
word: გაპარტახებული
roman: gaṗarṭaxebuli
lang: Georgian
word: გავერანებული
roman: gaveranebuli
lang: Georgian
word: მიტოვებული
roman: miṭovebuli
lang: German
word: aufgegeben
lang: German
word: verfallen
lang: German
word: verlassen
lang: Hindi
word: जर्जर
roman: jarjar
lang: Hungarian
word: elhagyatott
lang: Hungarian
word: elhagyott
lang: Hungarian
word: elhanyagolt
lang: Hungarian
word: gazdátlan
lang: Irish
word: fágtha béal in airde
lang: Irish
word: tréigthe
lang: Italian
word: abbandonato
lang: Kazakh
word: тастанды
roman: tastandy
lang: Latin
word: derelictus
lang: Latin
word: relictus
lang: Macedonian
word: на́пуштен
roman: nápušten
lang: Macedonian
word: за́пуштен
roman: zápušten
lang: Occitan
word: abandonat
lang: Polish
word: porzucony
lang: Portuguese
word: derrelicto
lang: Portuguese
word: derelito
lang: Portuguese
word: derrelito
lang: Portuguese
word: abandonado
lang: Russian
word: бро́шенный
roman: bróšennyj
lang: Russian
word: поки́нутый
roman: pokínutyj
lang: Russian
word: бесхо́зный
roman: besxóznyj
lang: Spanish
word: derelicto
lang: Turkish
word: terk edilmiş
lang: Vietnamese
word: bỏ hoang
lang: Finnish
word: hylätty omaisuus
lang: Finnish
word: hylkytavara
lang: Italian
word: oggetto abbandonato
lang: Italian
word: rifiuto