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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

des·ert 1  
  Audio Help     /ˈdɛz ərt / Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation [dez -ert ] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun 1. a region so arid because of little rainfall that it supports only sparse and widely spaced vegetation or no vegetation at all: The Sahara is a vast sandy desert.

2. any area in which few forms of life can exist because of lack of water, permanent frost, or absence of soil.

3. an area of the ocean in which it is believed no marine life exists.

4. (formerly) any unsettled area between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains thought to be unsuitable for human habitation.

5. any place lacking in something: The town was a cultural desert.

–adjective 6. of, pertaining to, or like a desert; desolate; barren.

7. occurring, living, or flourishing in the desert: a desert tribe; a desert palm.

8. designed or suitable for wear in the desert, as cool, protective clothing: a big, wide-brimmed desert hat.

[Origin: 1175–1225; ME désertum (neut.), n. use of ptp. of L déserere to abandon, forsake, equiv. to dé- de- + serere to join together (in a line); cf. series ] —Related forms de·ser·tic  
  Audio Help     /dɪˈzɜr tɪk / Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation [di- zur -tik ] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation , adjective des·ert·like, adjective —Synonyms 1 . Desert, waste, wilderness refer to areas that are largely uninhabited. Desert emphasizes lack of water; it refers to a dry, barren, treeless region, usually sandy: an oasis in a desert. Waste emphasizes lack of inhabitants and of cultivation; it is used of wild, barren land: a desolate waste. Wilderness emphasizes the difficulty of finding one's way, whether because of barrenness or of dense vegetation: a trackless wilderness.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, В© Random House, Inc. 2006.

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de·sert 2  
  Audio Help     /dɪˈzɜrt / Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation [di- zurt ] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –verb (used with object) 1. to leave (a person, place, etc.) without intending to return, esp. in violation of a duty, promise, or the like: He deserted his wife.

2. (of military personnel) to leave or run away from (service, duty, etc.) with the intention of never returning.

3. to fail (someone) at a time of need: None of his friends had deserted him.

–verb (used without object) 4. to forsake or leave one's duty, obligations, etc. (sometimes fol. by from, to, etc.): Many deserted during the food shortage.

5. (of military personnel) to leave service, duty, etc., with no intention of returning: Troops were deserting to the enemy.

[Origin: 1470–80; déserter désertāre, freq. of L déserere; see desert 1] —Related forms de·sert·ed·ly, adverb de·sert·ed·ness, noun de·sert·er, noun —Synonyms 1 . Desert, abandon, forsake mean to leave behind persons, places, or things. Desert implies intentionally violating an oath, formal obligation, or duty: to desert campaign pledges. Abandon suggests giving up wholly and finally, whether of necessity, unwillingly, or through shirking responsibilities: to abandon a hopeless task; abandon a child. Forsake has emotional connotations, since it implies violating obligations of affection or association: to forsake a noble cause.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, В© Random House, Inc. 2006.

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de·sert 3  
  Audio Help     /dɪˈzɜrt / Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation [di- zurt ] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun 1. Often, deserts. reward or punishment that is deserved: to get one's just deserts.

2. the state or fact of deserving reward or punishment.

3. the fact of deserving well; merit; virtue.

[Origin: 1275–1325; ME deserte, n. use of fem. ptp. of deservir to deserve ] —Synonyms 3 . See merit.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, В© Random House, Inc. 2006.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

des·ert  1  
  Audio Help   (děz'ərt)   Pronunciation Key  

n.В В 

A barren or desolate area, especially: A dry, often sandy region of little rainfall, extreme temperatures, and sparse vegetation.
A region of permanent cold that is largely or entirely devoid of life.
An apparently lifeless area of water.

An empty or forsaken place; a wasteland: a cultural desert.
Archaic A wild, uncultivated, and uninhabited region.

adj.В В 

Of, relating to, characteristic of, or inhabiting a desert: desert fauna.
Barren and uninhabited; desolate: a desert island.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin dēsertum , from neuter past participle of dēserere , to desert ; see desert 3.]

The American HeritageВ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright В© 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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de·sert  2  
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n.В В 

Something that is deserved or merited, especially a punishment. Often used in the plural: They got their just deserts when the scheme was finally uncovered.
The state or fact of deserving reward or punishment.

[Middle English, from Old French deserte , from feminine past participle of deservir , to deserve ; see deserve .]

Word History : When Shakespeare says in Sonnet 72, "Unless you would devise some virtuous lie,/To do more for me than mine own desert," he is using the word desert in the sense of "worthiness; deserving," a word perhaps most familiar to us in the plural, meaning "something that is deserved," as in the phrase just deserts. This word goes back to the Latin word dēservīre, "to devote oneself to the service of," which in Vulgar Latin came to mean "to merit by service." Dēservīre is made up of dē-, meaning "thoroughly," and servīre, "to serve." Knowing this, we can distinguish this desert from desert, "a wasteland," and desert, "to abandon," both of which go back to Latin dēserere, "to forsake, leave uninhabited," which is made up of dē-, expressing the notion of undoing, and the verb serere, "to link together." We can also distinguish all three deserts from dessert, "a sweet course at the end of a meal," which is from the French word desservir, "to clear the table." Desservir is made up of des-, expressing the notion of reversal, and servir (from Latin servīre ), "to serve," hence, "to unserve" or "to clear the table."

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de·sert  3  
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v.В В 

de·sert·ed , de·sert·ing , de·serts

v.В В 

tr.

To leave empty or alone; abandon.
To withdraw from, especially in spite of a responsibility or duty; forsake: deserted her friend in a time of need.
To abandon (a military post, for example) in violation of orders or an oath.

v.В В 

intr.

To forsake one's duty or post, especially to be absent without leave from the armed forces with no intention of returning.

[French déserter , from Late Latin dēsertāre , frequentative of Latin dēserere , to abandon : dē- , de- + serere , to join ; see ser- 2 in Indo-European roots.]

de·sert'er n.

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The American HeritageВ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright В© 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

desert В  (v.)
"to leave," c.1380, from O.Fr. deserter "leave," lit. "undo or sever connection," from L.L. desertare, freq. of L. deserere "to abandon," from de- "undo" + serere "join" (see series ). Military sense is first recorded 1647.

Online Etymology Dictionary, В© 2001 Douglas Harper

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

desert В  (n.1)
"wasteland," c.1225, from O.Fr. desert, from L.L. desertum, lit. "thing abandoned" (used in Vulgate to translate "wilderness"), n. use of neut. pp. of L. deserere "forsake" (see desert (v.)). Sense of "waterless, treeless region" was in M.E. and gradually became the main meaning. Commonly spelled desart in 18c., which is not etymological but at least avoids confusion with the other two senses of the word. Desertification was coined 1973 ( desertization was used in 1968).

Online Etymology Dictionary, В© 2001 Douglas Harper

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

desert В  (n.2)
"suitable reward or punishment" (now usually plural and just ), 1297, from O.Fr. deserte, pp. of deservir "be worthy to have," from L. deservire "serve well" (see deserve ).

Online Etymology Dictionary, В© 2001 Douglas Harper

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

desert noun 1.В  arid land with little or no vegetationВ  verb 1.В  leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch; "The mother deserted her children"В [syn: abandon ]В  2.В  desert (a cause, a country or an army), often in order to join the opposing cause, country, or army; "If soldiers deserted Hitler's army, they were shot"В [syn: defect ]В  3.В  leave behind; "the students deserted the campus after the end of exam period"В 

WordNetВ® 3.0, В© 2006 by Princeton University.

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version) - Cite This Source - Share This
desert 1 [diˈzəːt] verb
to go away from and leave without help etc; to leave or abandon Example: Why did you desert us?

Arabic: يَهْ�¬Ù�±�Œ يَ�ªÙ’�±ÙÙƒ
Chinese (Simplified): 遗弃；背离
Chinese (Traditional): 遺棄；背離
Czech: opustit
Danish: forlade; svigte; lade i stikken
Dutch: in de steek laten
Estonian: maha jГѓВ¤tma
Finnish: hylГѓВ¤tГѓВ¤
French: abandonner
German: verlassen
Greek: εγκαταλείπω
Hungarian: elhagy
Icelandic: yfirgefa, fara frГѓВЎ
Indonesian: meninggalkan
Japanese: 見捨てる

Korean: 버리다, 돌보지 않다
Latvian: atstāt; pamest
Lithuanian: palikti, apleisti
Norwegian: forlate, lГѓВёpe fra, svikte
Polish: opuszczać
Portuguese (Brazil): abandonar
Portuguese (Portugal): abandonar
Romanian: a părăsi
Russian: покидать
Slovak: opustiГ…ВҐ
Slovenian: zapustiti
Spanish: abandonar
Swedish: ГѓВ¶verge
Turkish: terk etmek

desert 2 [diˈzəːt] verb
to run away, usually from the army Example: He was shot for trying to desert.

Arabic: يَهْ�±Ù�¨ (من �§Ù„�¬ÙŽÙŠÙ’�´)
Chinese (Simplified): 开小差
Chinese (Traditional): 開小差
Czech: zběhnout
Danish: flygte; desertere
Dutch: deserteren
Estonian: deserteerima
Finnish: karata
French: dГѓВ©serter
German: fahnenflГѓВјchtig werden
Greek: λιποτακτώ
Hungarian: megszГѓВ¶kik, dezertГѓВЎl
Icelandic: gerast liГѓВ°hlaupi
Indonesian: melarikan diri
Japanese: 脱走する

Korean: 도망ì¹�다, 탈ì�í•�다
Latvian: dezertēt
Lithuanian: dezertyruoti
Norwegian: desertere, rГѓВёmme
Polish: dezerterować
Portuguese (Brazil): desertar
Portuguese (Portugal): desertar
Romanian: a dezerta
Russian: дезертировать
Slovak: zbehnГѓВєГ…ВҐ
Slovenian: dezertirati
Spanish: desertar
Swedish: desertera
Turkish: firar etmek

desert [ˈdezət] noun
an area of barren country, usually hot, dry and sandy, where there is very little rain Example: Parts of the country are like a desert; (also adjective) desert plants

Arabic: �µÙŽ�­Ù’�±�§�¡
Chinese (Simplified): 沙漠
Chinese (Traditional): 沙漠
Czech: pouГ…ВЎГ…ВҐ; pouГ…ВЎtnГѓВ­
Danish: ГѓВёrken; ГѓВёrken-
Dutch: woestijn
Estonian: kГѓВµrb
Finnish: autiomaa
French: dГѓВ©sert; dГѓВ©sertique
German: die WГѓВјste
Greek: ГЋВ­ГЏВЃГЋВ·ГЋВјГЋВїГЏВ‚
Hungarian: sivatag
Icelandic: eyГѓВ°imГѓВ¶rk
Indonesian: gurun
Japanese: 砂漠

Korean: 사막
Latvian: tuksnesis; tuksneГ…ВЎa-
Lithuanian: dykuma
Norwegian: ГѓВёrken
Polish: pustynia
Portuguese (Brazil): deserto
Portuguese (Portugal): deserto
Romanian: deşert; deşer­tic
Russian: пустыня
Slovak: pГѓВєГ…ВЎГ…ВҐ; pГѓВєГ…ВЎГ…ВҐovГѓВЅ
Slovenian: puščava
Spanish: desierto
Swedish: ГѓВ¶ken
Turkish: çöl

See also: deserted , deserter , desertion

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version), В© 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd.

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

desert В 
  Audio Help   (děz'ərt)   Pronunciation Key  

A large, dry, barren region, usually having sandy or rocky soil and little or no vegetation. Water lost to evaporation and transpiration in a desert exceeds the amount of precipitation; most deserts average less than 25 cm (9.75 inches) of precipitation each year, concentrated in short local bursts. Deserts cover about one fifth of the Earth's surface, with the principal warm deserts located mainly along the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, where warm, rising equatorial air masses that have already lost most of their moisture descend over the subtropical regions. Cool deserts are located at higher elevations in the temperate regions, often on the lee side of a barrier mountain range where the prevailing winds drop their moisture before crossing the range.

Our Living Language В В  : A desert is defined not by temperature but by the sparse amount of water found in a region. An area with an annual rainfall of fewer than 25 centimeters (9.75 inches) generally qualifies as a desert. In spite of the dryness, however, some animals and plants have adapted to desert life and thrive in these harsh environments. While different animals live in different types of deserts, the dominant animals of warm deserts are reptiles, including snakes and lizards, small mammals, such as ground squirrels and mice, and arthropods, such as scorpions and beetles. These animals are usually nocturnal, spending the day resting in the shade of plants or burrowed in the ground, and emerging in the evenings to hunt or eat. Warm-desert plants are mainly ground-hugging shrubs, small wooded trees, and cacti. Plant and animal life is scarcer in the cool desert, where the precipitation falls mainly as snow. Plants are generally scattered mosses and grasses that are able to survive the cold by remaining low to the ground, avoiding the wind, and animal life can include both large and small mammals, such as deer and jackrabbits, as well as a variety of raptors and other birds.

The American HeritageВ® Science Dictionary Copyright В© 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Desert Hills, AZ (CDP, FIPS 18740) Location: 34.55397 N, 114.37169 W Population (1990): 1700 (1027 housing units) Area: 12.3 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 86403
Desert Hot Sprin, CA Zip code(s): 92240
Desert Hot Springs, CA (city, FIPS 18996) Location: 33.95915 N, 116.50018 W Population (1990): 11668 (5494 housing units) Area: 26.5 sq km (land), 0.1 sq km (water)
Desert View Highlands, CA (CDP, FIPS 19052) Location: 34.58975 N, 118.15261 W Population (1990): 2154 (769 housing units) Area: 1.2 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Palm Desert Country, CA (CDP, FIPS 55187) Location: 33.74058 N, 116.31465 W Population (1990): 5626 (4947 housing units) Area: 6.6 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Mount Desert, ME Zip code(s): 04660
Palm Desert, CA (city, FIPS 55184) Location: 33.73324 N, 116.37539 W Population (1990): 23252 (18248 housing units) Area: 49.4 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Desert A*ban"don\ ([.a]*b[a^]n"d[u^]n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abandoned (-d[u^]nd); p. pr. & vb. n. Abandoning .] [OF. abandoner, F. abandonner; a (L. ad) + bandon permission, authority, LL. bandum, bannum, public proclamation, interdiction, bannire to proclaim, summon: of Germanic origin; cf. Goth. bandwjan to show by signs, to designate OHG. ban proclamation. The word meant to proclaim, put under a ban, put under control; hence, as in OE., to compel, subject, or to leave in the control of another, and hence, to give up. See Ban .] 1. To cast or drive out; to banish; to expel; to reject. [Obs.] That he might . . . abandon them from him. --Udall. Being all this time abandoned from your bed. --Shak. 2. To give up absolutely; to forsake entirely; to renounce utterly; to relinquish all connection with or concern on; to desert, as a person to whom one owes allegiance or fidelity; to quit; to surrender. Hope was overthrown, yet could not be abandoned. --I. Taylor. 3. Reflexively: To give (one's self) up without attempt at self-control; to yield (one's self) unrestrainedly; -- often in a bad sense. He abandoned himself . . . to his favorite vice. --Macaulay. 4. (Mar. Law) To relinquish all claim to; -- used when an insured person gives up to underwriters all claim to the property covered by a policy, which may remain after loss or damage by a peril insured against. Syn: To give up; yield; forego; cede; surrender; resign; abdicate; quit; relinquish; renounce; desert; forsake; leave; retire; withdraw from. Usage: To Abandon , Desert , Forsake . These words agree in representing a person as giving up or leaving some object, but differ as to the mode of doing it. The distinctive sense of abandon is that of giving up a thing absolutely and finally; as, to abandon one's friends, places, opinions, good or evil habits, a hopeless enterprise, a shipwrecked vessel. Abandon is more widely applicable than forsake or desert. The Latin original of desert appears to have been originally applied to the case of deserters from military service. Hence, the verb, when used of persons in the active voice, has usually or always a bad sense, implying some breach of fidelity, honor, etc., the leaving of something which the person should rightfully stand by and support; as, to desert one's colors, to desert one's post, to desert one's principles or duty. When used in the passive, the sense is not necessarily bad; as, the fields were deserted, a deserted village, deserted halls. Forsake implies the breaking off of previous habit, association, personal connection, or that the thing left had been familiar or frequented; as, to forsake old friends, to forsake the paths of rectitude, the blood forsook his cheeks. It may be used either in a good or in a bad sense.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, В© 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Desert De*sert"\, n. [OF. deserte, desserte, merit, recompense, fr. deservir, desservir, to merit. See Deserve .] That which is deserved; the reward or the punishment justly due; claim to recompense, usually in a good sense; right to reward; merit. According to their deserts will I judge them. --Ezek. vii. 27. Andronicus, surnamed Pius For many good and great deserts to Rome. --Shak. His reputation falls far below his desert. --A. Hamilton. Syn: Merit; worth; excellence; due.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, В© 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Desert Des"ert\, n. [F. d['e]sert, L. desertum, from desertus solitary, desert, pp. of deserere to desert; de- + serere to join together. See Series .] 1. A deserted or forsaken region; a barren tract incapable of supporting population, as the vast sand plains of Asia and Africa are destitute and vegetation. A dreary desert and a gloomy waste. --Pope. 2. A tract, which may be capable of sustaining a population, but has been left unoccupied and uncultivated; a wilderness; a solitary place. He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. --Is. li. 3. Note: Also figuratively. Before her extended Dreary and vast and silent, the desert of life. --Longfellow.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, В© 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Desert Des"ert\, a. [Cf. L. desertus, p. p. of deserere, and F. d['e]sert. See 2d Desert .] Of or pertaining to a desert; forsaken; without life or cultivation; unproductive; waste; barren; wild; desolate; solitary; as, they landed on a desert island. He . . . went aside privately into a desert place. --Luke ix. 10. Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air. --Gray. Desert flora (Bot.), the assemblage of plants growing naturally in a desert, or in a dry and apparently unproductive place. Desert hare (Zo["o]l.), a small hare ( Lepus sylvaticus , var. Arizon[ae]) inhabiting the deserts of the Western United States. Desert mouse (Zo["o]l.), an American mouse ( Hesperomys eremicus ), living in the Western deserts.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, В© 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Desert Des"ert\, a. [Cf. L. desertus, p. p. of deserere, and F. d['e]sert. See 2d Desert .] Of or pertaining to a desert; forsaken; without life or cultivation; unproductive; waste; barren; wild; desolate; solitary; as, they landed on a desert island. He . . . went aside privately into a desert place. --Luke ix. 10. Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air. --Gray. Desert flora (Bot.), the assemblage of plants growing naturally in a desert, or in a dry and apparently unproductive place. Desert hare (Zo["o]l.), a small hare ( Lepus sylvaticus , var. Arizon[ae]) inhabiting the deserts of the Western United States. Desert mouse (Zo["o]l.), an American mouse ( Hesperomys eremicus ), living in the Western deserts.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, В© 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Desert
(1.) Heb. midbar, "pasture-ground;" an open tract for pasturage; a common (Joel 2:22). The "backside of the desert" (Ex. 3:1) is the west of the desert, the region behind a man, as the east is the region in front. The same Hebrew word is rendered "wildernes," and is used of the country lying between Egypt and Palestine (Gen. 21:14, 21; Ex. 4:27; 19:2; Josh. 1:4), the wilderness of the wanderings. It was a grazing tract, where the flocks and herds of the Israelites found pasturage during the whole of their journey to the Promised Land. The same Hebrew word is used also to denote the wilderness of Arabia, which in winter and early spring supplies good pasturage to the flocks of the nomad tribes than roam over it (1 Kings 9:18). The wilderness of Judah is the mountainous region along the western shore of the Dead Sea, where David fed his father's flocks (1 Sam. 17:28; 26:2). Thus in both of these instances the word denotes a country without settled inhabitants and without streams of water, but having good pasturage for cattle; a country of wandering tribes, as distinguished from that of a settled people (Isa. 35:1; 50:2; Jer. 4:11). Such, also, is the meaning of the word "wilderness" in Matt. 3:3; 15:33; Luke 15:4. (2.) The translation of the Hebrew _Aribah'_, "an arid tract" (Isa. 35:1, 6; 40:3; 41:19; 51:3, etc.). The name Arabah is specially applied to the deep valley of the Jordan (the Ghor of the Arabs), which extends from the lake of Tiberias to the Elanitic gulf. While _midbar_ denotes properly a pastoral region, _arabah_ denotes a wilderness. It is also translated "plains;" as "the plains of Jericho" (Josh. 5:10; 2 Kings 25:5), "the plains of Moab" (Num. 22:1; Deut. 34:1, 8), "the plains of the wilderness" (2 Sam. 17:16). (3.) In the Revised Version of Num. 21:20 the Hebrew word _jeshimon_ is properly rendered "desert," meaning the waste tracts on both shores of the Dead Sea. This word is also rendered "desert" in Ps. 78:40; 106:14; Isa. 43:19, 20. It denotes a greater extent of uncultivated country than the other words so rendered. It is especially applied to the desert of the peninsula of Arabia (Num. 21:20; 23:28), the most terrible of all the deserts with which the Israelites were acquainted. It is called "the desert" in Ex. 23:31; Deut. 11:24. (See JESHIMON .) (4.) A dry place; hence a desolation (Ps. 9:6), desolate (Lev. 26:34); the rendering of the Hebrew word _horbah'_. It is rendered "desert" only in Ps. 102:6, Isa. 48:21, and Ezek. 13:4, where it means the wilderness of Sinai. (5.) This word is the symbol of the Jewish church when they had forsaken God (Isa. 40:3). Nations destitute of the knowledge of God are called a "wilderness" (32:15, _midbar_). It is a symbol of temptation, solitude, and persecution (Isa. 27:10, _midbar_; 33:9, _arabah_).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

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A 'desert' is a landscape or region that receives very little precipitation.
Deserts can be defined as areas that receive an average annual precipitation of
less than 250 mm (10 in), name="usgs">[http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/deserts/what/ What is a
desert?]According to [http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/deserts/what/ What is
a desert?], this definition is due to Peveril Meigs or as areas in which
more water is lost than falls as precipitation. In
the Köppen climate classification system, deserts are classed as BWh (hot
desert) or BWk (temperate desert). In the Thornthwaite climate classification
system, deserts would be classified as arid megathermal climates. name=Fredlund1993>Glossary of Meteorology. [http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?id=megathermal-
climate1 Megathermal Climate.] Retrieved on 2008-05-21.

The lack of arable land, wide open space and high incident solar irradiance are
turning deserts into viable energy resources. David Faiman, chairman of the
Department of Solar Energy & Environmental Physics of the Jacob Blaustein
Institutes for Desert Research, feels the energy needs of a country like Israel
could could be met by building solar energy plants in the Negev. Faiman also
feels the technology now exists to supply all of the world's electricity needs
with 10 per cent of the Sahara Desert, and construction of the world's largest
generating solar plant, the Mojave Solar Park, is being constructed by Solel in
the Mojave Desert of California. name=Register>[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/25/faiman_negev_solar_plan/
Giant solar plants in Negev could power Israel's future], John Lettice, [[The
Register]], January 25, 2008