Re:Iceland's attempts to replant its forests
by kobeya on Friday October 20, 2017 @10:21AM
(#15515980)
The etymology of the word (think deserted island) would imply it has more to do with the lack of life than the reason for a lack of life.
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Re:Iceland's attempts to replant its forests
by mitchtbaum on Friday October 20, 2017 @10:47AM
(#15516184)
Etymology of desert:
from Latin desertus, from desero (“abandon”)
From dē- (“away, from”) + serō (“I bind, join”).
From Proto-Italic sizō, from Proto-Indo-European si-sh₁-, the reduplicated present of *seh₁- (“to sow”).
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/desert#Etymology_3
Re:Iceland's attempts to replant its forests
by quotemstr on Friday October 20, 2017 @04:05PM
(#15518761)
Right. That's the sense (solitude) of "desert" in Tacitus's famous quip about the Romans: "they make a desert and call it peace".
Re:Iceland's attempts to replant its forests
by guelo on Friday October 20, 2017 @12:23PM
(#15517002)
In verb and adjective form anything can be deserted, a husband deserting his wife, a deserted village.
In noun form I've heard of things like food deserts to describe urban area without grocery or restaurants. Also places like Antartica are sometimes described as deserts. Also ocean deserts to describe areas without fish.