desegmentation (desegmentashon)

de -priv. + segment + -ation.] The proce or result of uniting several segments of the body in one; the concrescence of several originally distinct metameric segments into one composite segment; the state or quality of not being segmented. Thus, the thorax of an insect, or the carapace of a lobster, or the cranium of a vertebrate, is a de segmentation of several segments. A number of metameres may be united to form larger segments in which the separate metameres lose their individuality. This state of things results in a deseg mentation of the body. Gegenbaur , Comp. Anat. (trans.), p. 228. desegmented (de-seg'men-ted), a. [ deserter , F. déserter = Pr. Sp. Pg. desertar = It. desert are, disertare = D. deserteren = G. desert i ren = Dan. desert ere =Sw. deserter a, a cause. Deserted at his utmost need By those his former bounty fed. Dryden, Alexander's Feast, 1. 80. On one occasion he [Cervantes] attempted to escape by land to Oran, a Spanish settlement on the coast, but was deserted by his guide and compelled to return. Sumner, Orations, I. 238. Amidst an ancient cypre wood, A long- deserted ruined castle stood. William Morris, Earthly Paradise, I. 324. 2. To leave without permi ion; forsake; escape from, as the service in which one is engaged, in violation of duty: as, to desert an army; to desert one's colors; to desert a ship. Not one common soldier or common sailor is known to have deserted his flag. Lincoln , in Raymond, p. 149. To desert the diet, in Scots criminal law, to abandon proceedings in the particular libel in virtue of which a panel has been brought into court. =Syn. Desert, Aban don, etc. (see forsake ); to quit, vacate, depart from, run away from. See list under abandon. II. in trans. To quit a service or post without permi ion; run away: as, to desert from the army. The poor fellow had deserted , and was now afraid of being overtaken and carried back. Goldsmith, E ays. Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who deserts , while I must not touch a hair of a wily agitator who induces him to desert ? Lincoln , in Raymond, p. 359.