defection Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun withdrawing support or help despite allegiance or responsibility
    desertion; abandonment.
    • his abandonment of his wife and children left them penniless
  2. noun the state of having rejected your religious beliefs or your political party or a cause (often in favor of opposing beliefs or causes)
    renunciation; apostasy.

WordNet

De*fec"tion noun
Etymology
L. defectio: cf. F. défection. See Defect.
Definitions
  1. 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. "Defection and falling away from God." Sir W. Raleigh.
    The general defection of the whole realm. Sir J. Davies.

Webster 1913