The process of being derelict. To leave or abandon one’s duty, e.g. dereliction of his duties as a police officer.
Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition
The gaining of land from the water, in consequence of the sea shrinking back below the usual water mark; the opposite of alluvion, (q. v.) Dyer, 326b; 2 Bl. Comm. 262; 1 Steph. Comm. 419; Linthlcum v. Coan, 64 Md. 439, 2 Atl. 826, 54 Am. Rep. 775; Warren v. Chambers, 25 Ark. 120t 91 Am. Dec. 538, 4 Am. Rep. 23; Sapp v.Frailer, 51 La. Ann. 1718, 26 South. 378, 72 Am. St Rep. 408. In the civil law. The voluntary abandonment of goods by the owner, without the hope or the purpose of returning to the possession. Jones v. Nunn, 12 Ga. 473; Livermore v. White, 74 Me. 456, 43 Am. Rep. 600. Derivativa potesta non potest esse major primitiva. Noy, Max.; Wing. Max. 66. The derivative power cannot be greater than the primitive.