tr.v. ma·rooned, ma·roon·ing, ma·roons 1. To put ashore on a deserted island or coast and intentionally abandon. 2. To abandon or isolate with little hope of ready rescue or escape: The travelers were marooned by the blizzard. n. 1. often Maroon a. A fugitive black slave in the West Indies in the 1600s and 1700s. b. A descendant of such a slave. 2. A person who is marooned, as on an island. [From French marron, fugitive slave, from American Spanish cimarrón, wild, runaway, perhaps from cima, summit (from runaways' fleeing to the mountains), from Latin cȳma, sprout; see CYMA.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.