Marooning's leaving someone behind on purpose in an uninhabited area, such as an uninhabited island. The word appears in writing in approximately 1709, and's derived from the term maroon, a word for a fugitive slave, which could be a corruption of Spanish cimarrón, meaning "wild". The practice was a penalty for crewmen, or for captains at the hands of a crew. A marooned man was set on a deserted island, often no more than a sand bar at low tide. He'd be given some food, a container of wat… (More on Marooning)