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Origin and history of defection

defection(n.)

1540s, "action of failing," especially in performance of duty or obligation; 1550s, "action of deserting or abandoning a party, leader, cause, etc." (in early use often of faith); from Latin defectionem (nominative defectio) "desertion, revolt, failure," noun of action from past-participle stem of deficere "to desert, revolt, fail," from de "down, away" (see de-) + combining form of facere "to do, make" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put").

also from 1540s

Entries linking to defection

de-

active word-forming element in English and in many verbs inherited from French and Latin, from Latin de "down, down from, from, off; concerning" (see de), also used as a prefix in Latin, usually meaning "down, off, away, from among, down from," but also "down to the bottom, totally" hence "completely" (intensive or completive), which is its sense in many English words.

As a Latin prefix it also had the function of undoing or reversing a verb's action, and hence it came to be used as a pure privative — "not, do the opposite of, undo" — which is its primary function as a living prefix in English, as in defrost (1895), defuse (1943), de-escalate (1964), etc. In some cases, a reduced form of dis-.

*dhe-

*dhē-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to set, put."

It might form all or part of: abdomen; abscond; add; affair; affect (v.1) "make a mental impression on;" affect (v.2) "make a pretense of;" affection; amplify; anathema; antithesis; apothecary; artifact; artifice; beatific; benefice; beneficence; beneficial; benefit; betray; bibliothec; bodega; boutique; certify; chafe; chauffeur; comfit; condiment; confection; confetti; counterfeit; deed; deem; deface; defeasance; defeat; defect; deficient; difficulty; dignify; discomfit; do (v.); doom; -dom; duma; edifice; edify; efface; effect; efficacious; efficient; epithet; facade; face; facet; facial; -facient; facile; facilitate; facsimile; fact; faction (n.1) "political party;" -faction; factitious; factitive; factor; factory; factotum; faculty; fashion; feasible; feat; feature; feckless; fetish; -fic; fordo; forfeit; -fy; gratify; hacienda; hypothecate; hypothesis; incondite; indeed; infect; justify; malefactor; malfeasance; manufacture; metathesis; misfeasance; modify; mollify; multifarious; notify; nullify; office; officinal; omnifarious; orifice; parenthesis; perfect; petrify; pluperfect; pontifex; prefect; prima facie; proficient; profit; prosthesis; prothesis; purdah; putrefy; qualify; rarefy; recondite; rectify; refectory; sacrifice; salmagundi; samadhi; satisfy; sconce; suffice; sufficient; surface; surfeit; synthesis; tay; ticking (n.); theco-; thematic; theme; thesis; tradition; traitor; verify.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit dadhati "puts, places;" Avestan dadaiti "he puts;" Old Persian ada "he made;" Hittite dai- "to place;" Greek tithenai "to put, set, place;" Latin facere "to make, do; perform; bring about;" Lithuanian dėti "to put;" Polish dziać się "to be happening;" Russian delat' "to do;" Old High German tuon, German tun, Old English don "to do."

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    apostasy
    late 14c., apostasie, "renunciation, abandonment or neglect of established religion," from Late Latin apostasia, from later Greek apostasia for earlier apostasis "revolt, defection," literally "a standing off," from apostanai "to stand away" (see apostate (n.)). The general (non-
    renunciation
    late 14c., renunciacioun, "action of renouncing, abdication, a disowning or disclaiming," also Anglo-French renunciacion (mid-14c.), from Old French renonciacion and directly from Latin renuntiationem (nominative renuntiatio), in classical Latin, "a declaration, proclamation," no
    desertion
    "act of forsaking or abandoning," 1590s, from French désertion (early 15c.), from Late Latin desertionem (nominative desertio) "a forsaking, abandoning," noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin deserere "to abandon, to leave, forsake, give up, leave in the lurch," from
    apostate
    apostat and directly from Late Latin apostata (which form also was used in Middle English), from Greek apostasia, apostasis "defection...
    rejection
    "act of throwing off or away; refusal to accept or grant," 1550s, from French réjection (16c.) or directly from Latin reiectionem (nominative reiectio) "act of throwing back," noun of action from past-participle stem of reicere (see reject (v.)). In 19c., it also could mean "excr
    withdrawal
    1820s, "act of taking back," also "retraction of a statement," from withdraw + -al (2). Earlier words in the same sense were withdrawment (1640s); withdraught (mid-14c.). Meaning "removal of money from a bank, etc." is from 1861; psychological sense is from 1916; meaning "physica
    abandonment
    1610s, "action of relinquishing to another," from French abandonnement (Old French abandonement), from abandonner "to give up" (see abandon (v.)). Meaning "a deserting, forsaking" (of one's family, principles, etc.) is by 1788; from 1839 as "condition of being forsaken." In law,
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    defenestration
    1620, "the action of throwing out of a window," from Latin fenestra "window." A word invented for one incident: the "Defenestration of Prague," May 21, 1618, when two Catholic deputies to the Bohemian national assembly and a secretary were tossed out the window of the castle of H
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