wilderness

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English

Etymology

From Middle English wildernesse, wyldernys, of uncertain formation. Perhaps from Middle English wildern (“wilderness”) +‎ -ness; or from unattested Old English *wilddēornes; or from Old English wilddēoren (“wild, savage”) + -nes (“-ness”).

Compare Middle Dutch wildernisse ("wilderness"; > modern Dutch wildernis), German Wildnis (“wilderness”). Compare also Old English wilder, wildor (“wild beast”).

Pronunciation

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  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

wilderness (countable and uncountable, plural wildernesses)

  1. (countable, uncountable) An unsettled and uncultivated tract of land left in its natural state; a barren land; a wild or waste.
  2. (countable, uncountable) A place that is uncared for, and therefore devoted to disorder or wildness.
  3. (uncountable) Wild or unrefined state; wildness.
  4. (countable) A bewildering flock or throng.
    • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 173:
      Tub. One of them ſhewed me a ring that hee had of your daughter for a Monkie.
      Shy. Out vpon her, thou tortureſt me Tuball, it was my Turkies, I had it of Leah when I was a Batcheler: I would not haue giuen it for a wilderneſſe of Monkies.
  5. (countable) A situation that is bewildering, or that which makes one feel awkward.
    • 2015, Dermot McEvoy, Irish Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ireland:
      After the firm establishment of the Irish Free State, Churchill would continue to hold office until the depression. Then, he found himself in the political wilderness. But, unlike Lloyd George, he would not find himself tripping to Berchtesgaden to prostrate himself before Adolf Hitler in admiration. Perhaps he had learned something from Michael Collins—never bend the knee to the tyrant.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

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