Dictionary

dereliction en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /dɛɹ.ɪˈlɪk.ʃən/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Latin dērelictiō (“neglect, abandonment”), from dērelinquō (“to neglect, abandon”), from dē- + re- + linquō (“to leave”).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Willful neglect of one's duty.
   • And his final act—leaving the Watch to accompany Tormund and the Wildlings back into the woods North of the wall—no longer seems like a dereliction of duty. It’s the recovery of duty, found by a man who feels he betrayed his queen, who thinks there’s no longer a place for him in these lands. 2019 May 19, Alex McLevy, “The final Game Of Thrones brings a pensive but simple meditation about stories (newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 22 May 2019:
   • […] there on the table were the uncleared remains of Thursday's lunch, plain evidence of someone's dereliction. 1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London:
   • The new soldier did not clean his cabin and was scolded for dereliction and disobedience.
   • What he did was a terrible dereliction of duty.
2. (countable, uncountable) The act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned.
   • 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. 1955 July, D. S. Barrie, “Railways of the Bridgend District”, in Railway Magazine, page 449:
   • To this we must contend with prayer , with actual dereliction and seposition of all our other affairs 1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC:
   • After years of unsympathetic commercial use and dereliction, nothing of note remained inside, which accordingly has been reconfigured with modern amenities such as underfloor heating. 2021 December 15, Robin Leleux, “Awards honour the best restoration projects: The Network Rail Community Award: Saltash and Stow”, in RAIL, number 946, page 58:
3. (countable, uncountable) Land gained from the water by a change of water-line.

Forms

Relateds

relinquish · derelict

Translations (16)

fi hylkääminen (the act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned) · fr prévarication (willful neglect of one's duty) · ru сабота́ж (willful neglect of one's duty) · es derelección (the act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned) · fr déréliction (the act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned) · es derelicción (willful neglect of one's duty) · ru забро́шенность (the act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned) · ru наруше́ние до́лга (willful neglect of one's duty) · ru оставле́ние (the act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned) · he עזובה (willful neglect of one's duty) · de Dereliktion (the act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned) · fi hylky (the act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned) · fi hylkiö (the act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned) · de Dienstpflichtverletzung (willful neglect of one's duty) · de Pflichtversäumnis (willful neglect of one's duty) · fi laiminlyönti (willful neglect of one's duty)