Derelict

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Derelict \Der"e*lict\, n. (Law)
        (a) A thing voluntary abandoned or willfully cast away by
            its proper owner, especially a ship abandoned at sea.
        (b) A tract of land left dry by the sea, and fit for
            cultivation or use.
            [1913 Webster]



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Derelict \Der"e*lict\, a. [L. derelictus, p. p. of derelinquere
     to forsake wholly, to abandon; de- + relinquere to leave. See
     {Relinquish}.]
     1. Given up or forsaken by the natural owner or guardian;
        left and abandoned; as, derelict lands.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The affections which these exposed or derelict
              children bear to their mothers, have no grounds of
              nature or assiduity but civility and opinion. --Jer.
        Taylor.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Lost; adrift; hence, wanting; careless; neglectful;
        unfaithful.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              They easily prevailed, so as to seize upon the
              vacant, unoccupied, and derelict minds of his
              [Chatham's] friends; and instantly they turned the
              vessel wholly out of the course of his policy.
                                                    --Burke.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              A government which is either unable or unwilling to
              redress such wrongs is derelict to its highest
              duties.                               --J. Buchanan.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  derelict
       adj 1: deserted or abandoned as by an owner; "a derelict ship"
       2: failing in what duty requires; "derelict (or delinquent) in
          his duty"; "neglectful of his duties"; "remiss of you not
          to pay your bills" [syn: {delinquent}, {neglectful}, {remiss}]
       n 1: a person unable to support himself
       2: a ship abandoned on the high seas [syn: {abandoned ship}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  174 Moby Thesaurus words for "derelict":
     Bowery bum, DP, Ishmael, abandoned, battered, beachcomber, beat-up,
     beaten up, beggar, beggarly fellow, behindhand, blighter,
     broken-down, budmash, bum, bummer, caitiff, careless, cast-off,
     castaway, castoff, culpably negligent, declasse, decrepit,
     delinquent, deserted, desolate, devil, dilapidated, dilatory,
     dingy, disaffected, discard, discarded, disloyal, disowned,
     displaced person, disregardful, disused, dogie, down-and-out,
     drifter, drunkard, evictee, exile, expatriate, expellee, faded,
     faithless, false, fickle, floater, flotsam, flotsam and jetsam,
     forsaken, foundling, good-for-naught, good-for-nothing, heedless,
     hobo, human wreck, in ruins, inadvertent, inattentive, inconstant,
     irresponsible, jetsam, jettisoned, junk, lagan, laissez-faire, lax,
     lazzarone, left, leper, loafer, loose, lowlife, malingerer,
     marooned, mauvais sujet, mean wretch, mucker, neglected,
     neglectful, neglecting, negligent, no-good, noninterfering,
     nonrestrictive, not true to, of bad faith, off-guard, orphan,
     outcast, outcast of society, outcaste, outlaw, outside the gates,
     outside the pale, overly permissive, pariah, pauvre diable,
     permissive, persona non grata, pilgarlic, poor creature,
     poor devil, procrastinating, ramshackle, recreant, refuse,
     regardless, reject, rejected, relaxed, remiss, rubbish, ruined,
     ruinous, run-down, sad case, sad sack, scamping, seedy, shabby,
     skid-row bum, skimping, slack, slacker, slighting, slipshod,
     sloppy, slovenly, slummy, slurring, social outcast, solitary,
     stiff, street arab, sundowner, swagman, threadbare, tottery, tramp,
     trash, trothless, truant, tumbledown, unacceptable person,
     uncircumspect, uncouth, undependable, undesirable, unfaithful,
     unguarded, unloyal, unreliable, unrigorous, unsteadfast,
     untouchable, untrue, untrustworthy, unwary, unwatchful, vag,
     vagabond, vagrant, vaurien, waif, waifs and strays, wastrel,
     worthless fellow, wretch
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  DERELICT, common law. This term is applied in the common law in a different 
  sense from what it bears in the civil law. In the former it is applied to 
  lands left by the sea. 
       2. When so left by degrees the derelict land belongs to the owner of 
  the soil adjoining but when the sea retires suddenly, it belongs to the 
  government. 2 Bl. Com. 262 1 Bro. Civ. Law, 239; 1 Sumn. 328, 490 1 Gallis. 
  138; Bee, R. 62, 178, 260; Ware, R. 332.