derelict (derelikt)

and n. [=Pg. derelicto = It. derelitto, Taking out a patent in Charles the Second's time for derelict lands. Sir P. Pett, Letters, To A. Wood, I. 611, The affections which these exposed or derelict children bear to their mothers have no grounds of nature or a iduity, but civility and opinion. Jer. Taylor , Works (ed. 1835), I. 40. 2. Unfaithful; neglectful of requirement or responsibility: as, derelict in duty. The vacant, unoccupied, and derelict minds of his friends. Burke , American Taxation. It was generally admitted that Mr. Grant was hopele ly derelict, and neglectful of his social duties. J. Hawthorne, Dust, p. 108. II. n. 1. That which is abandoned; in law , an article of goods or any commodity thrown away, relinquished, or abandoned by the owner; specifically, a ve el abandoned at sea. when I am a little disposed to a gay turn of thinking, I consider, as I was a derelict from cradle, I honour of a lawful claim to the best protection in Europe. Savage, Wanderer, v., note. The crown [of Jerusalem) became a derelict ; the title was borne after Conrad by his half-brother Henry, the son of Isabella of England; and subsequently by a number of ruling houses. Stubbs , Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 176. The cruiser Atlanta towed into the Capes of Delaware a dangerous derelict which had been drifting about off the New York Tribune , Nov. 20, 1887. coast for weeks. 2. Land left dry by a change of the water-line. dereliction (der-e-lik's hon), n. [= Pg. dere licção, not to reclaim or resume; an utter forsaking; abandonment. [Now rare except in law.] 1551