Depending on where you live, the Medjool date palm is hardy to around USDA zone 8. If you live in a sheltered spot, I'd return it outdoors for at least a few hours a day, to acclimatise it to outdoors living, as it seems that your home is drying out it - which is common with many house plants during winter time.
Whilst it is indoors, keep it away from any heating appliances, ducts, radiators etc, as these will increase the rate of water loss. As others say, spray misting it with water will reduce the rate of loss, and you could also place some water in a wide dish nearby, that will evaporate steadily through the day, increasing the humidity around it, and minimise its loss from your plant.
So, overall this depends on whether you want your plant to be indoors, where you live - is it mild enough outdoors, as well as if you have a warmer micro-climate outdoors that it could live in, even if you provide some protection for it. You could consider constructing a small covering for it, made from some wood, covered in plastic etc - it's important to have some ventilation. Otherwise, you could allow it a few hours outdoors each day, towards moving it outdoors more permanently, or just to provide some relief to it, from the drier conditions indoors.
Your plant wants to grow into a tall palm tree ultimately, and its rate of growth will in part be determined by its available leaf space that is still alive. In years to come, its lower leaves will long be gone, but aiming to keep as many intact now is important. As your plant has been stressed, moving from nursery to retailer, and then on to you, where it has dried out somewhat, minimise any further stress to it, as well as you are able. Don't place it outdoors if it's freezing cold,. very windy etc, as this will stress it even more. In the evenings etc, you could move it somewhere indoors where it's slightly cooler than its current environment, as well as not so drying, which will give it some relief. It's generally not so good to swap environments for a plant, but I do this when I have a plant that needs a break from something that it's finding it hard to cope with.
As you say, this palm would naturally grow in a dessert, but it would establish its leaves etc, in order to withstand this, from the moment that its seed sprouts. My guess is that yours has been cultivated somewhere more benevolent than a harsh dessert, and this is why it's reacting as it has done. If it was now switched into the centre of a dessert, it would likely die, as it's just not adapted to such an environment - plants normally adapt quite slowly to external conditions, which is why they show stress when more rapid changes have been made.
Hope this helps. Good luck! Rob
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