Lewis & Short

dēsertor, ōris, m. [2. desero], one who forsakes, abandons, deserts any one.

  1. I. Prop.
    1. A. In gen.: amicorum (opp. conservator inimicorum), Cic. Att. 8, 9, 3: communis utilitatis aut salutis, id. Fin. 3, 19, 64.
      Esp. freq.,
    2. B. Milit. t. t., a runaway, deserter (opp. transfuga, one who joins the enemy, Dig. 48, 16, 5, § 8), * Caes. B. G. 6, 23, 8 (with proditor, as in Tac. H. 1, 72); Liv. 3, 69, 7; 23, 18, 16; Tac. A. 1, 21; Vell. 2, 85; 119; Flor. 4, 2, 52; Suet. Caes. 68; Front. Strat. 4, 1, 29; Dig. 48, 16, 3 init. al. et saep.
      1. 2. Transf. beyond the milit. sphere, a deserter, one who abandons: Amoris, Ov. H. 19, 157: Asiae, *Verg. A. 12, 15.
  2. II. Trop.: usus corporis desertor animi, a forsaker, Stat. Th. 8, 739.