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.
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.
2.
Lost; adrift; hence, wanting; careless; neglectful; unfaithful.
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.
A government which is either unable or unwilling to redress such wrongs is derelict to its highest duties.
J. Buchanan.
© Webster 1913.
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.
© Webster 1913.