defection : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: defection	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for defection
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
defection n withdrawing support or help despite allegiance or responsibility; "his abandonment of his wife and children left them penniless" Synonym(s): desertion, abandonment, defection the state of having rejected your religious beliefs or your political party or a cause (often in favor of opposing beliefs or causes) Synonym(s): apostasy, renunciation, defection
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Defection \Defec"tion\, n. [L. defectio: cf. F. d[82]fection. See {Defect}.] Act of abandoning a person or cause to which one is bound by allegiance or duty, or to which one has attached himself; desertion; failure in duty; a falling away; apostasy; backsliding. [bd]Defection* and falling away from God.[b8] --Sir W. Raleigh. The general defection of the whole realm. --Sir J. Davies.