Part 221

Des"ul*to*ri*ly (?), adv. In a desultory manner; without method; loosely; immethodically.

Des"ul*to*ri*ness, n. The quality of being desultory or without order or method; unconnectedness.

The seeming desultoriness of my method.

Boyle.

Des`ul*to"ri*ous (?), a. Desultory. [R.]

Des"ul*to*ry (?), a. [L. desultorius, fr. desultor a leaper, fr. desilire, desultum, to leap down; de + salire to leap. See Saltation.] 1. Leaping or skipping about. [Obs.]

I shot at it [a bird], but it was so desultory that I missed my aim.

Gilbert White.

2. Jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order or rational connection; without logical sequence; disconnected; immethodical; aimless; as, desultory minds. Atterbury.

He [Goldsmith] knew nothing accurately; his reading had been desultory.

Macaulay.

3. Out of course; by the way; as a digression; not connected with the subject; as, a desultory remark.

Syn. -- Rambling; roving; immethodical; discursive; inconstant; unsettled; cursory; slight; hasty; loose.

De*sume" (?), v. t. [L. desumere; de + sumere to take.] To select; to borrow. [Obs.] Sir. M. Hale.

De`syn*on`y*mi*za"tion (?), n. The act of desynonymizing.

De`syn*on"y*mize (?), v. t. To deprive of synonymous character; to discriminate in use; -- applied to words which have been employed as synonyms. Coleridge. Trench.

De*tach" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Detached (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Detaching.] [F. détacher (cf. It. distaccare, staccare); pref. dé (L. dis) + the root found also in E. attach. See Attach, and cf. Staccato.] 1. To part; to separate or disunite; to disengage; -- the opposite of attach; as, to detach the coats of a bulbous root from each other; to detach a man from a leader or from a party.

2. To separate for a special object or use; - - used especially in military language; as, to detach a ship from a fleet, or a company from a regiment.

Syn. -- To separate; disunite; disengage; sever; disjoin; withdraw; draw off. See Detail.

De*tach", v. i. To push asunder; to come off or separate from anything; to disengage.

Tennyson.

De*tach"a*ble (?), a. That can be detached.

De*tached" (?), a. Separate; unconnected, or imperfectly connected; as, detached parcels. "Extensive and detached empire." Burke.

Detached escapement. See Escapement.

De*tach"ment (?), n. [Cf. F. détachement.] 1. The act of detaching or separating, or the state of being detached.

2. That which is detached; especially, a body of troops or part of a fleet sent from the main body on special service.

Troops . . . widely scattered in little detachments.

Bancroft.