De*ser"tion (d&esl;*z&etilde;r"shŭn), n. [L. desertio: cf. F. désertion.] 1. The act of deserting or forsaking; abandonment of a service, a cause, a party, a friend, or any post of duty; the quitting of one's duties willfully and without right; esp., an absconding from military or naval service.

Such a resignation would have seemed to his superior a desertion or a reproach.

2. The state of being forsaken; desolation; as, the king in his desertion.

3. Abandonment by God; spiritual despondency.

The spiritual agonies of a soul under desertion.

• The act of deserting.