Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An unsettled, uncultivated region left in its natural condition, especially:
- n. A large wild tract of land covered with dense vegetation or forests.
- n. An extensive area, such as a desert or ocean, that is barren or empty; a waste.
- n. A piece of land set aside to grow wild.
- n. Something characterized by bewildering vastness, perilousness, or unchecked profusion: the wilderness of the city; the wilderness of counterespionage; a wilderness of voices.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A tract of land inhabited only by wild beasts; a desert, whether forest or plain.
- n. A wild; a waste of any kind.
- n. A part of a garden set apart for plants to grow in with unchecked luxuriance.
- n. A confused or bewildering mass, heap, or collection.
- n. Wildness.
- n. Synonyms Wilderness, Desert. See desert.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A tract of land, or a region, uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings, whether a forest or a wide, barren plain; a wild; a waste; a desert; a pathless waste of any kind.
- n. A disorderly or neglected place.
- n. Quality or state of being wild; wildness.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a wooded region in northeastern Virginia near Spotsylvania where bloody but inconclusive battles were fought in the American Civil War
- n. (politics) a state of disfavor
- n. a bewildering profusion
- n. a wild and uninhabited area left in its natural condition
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Old English *wilddēornes, probably from wilddēor, wild beast : wilde, wild + dēor, wild animal.
Examples
“Hunter, that it is to be understood of destruction in the wilderness, and the answer stands thus -- _My wrath shall wax hot against Israel and consume them -- they shall all die in the wilderness_, THEREFORE, _now go lead them to”
“I thought we were probably the first _human_ beings that ever took up their residence for a night in this wilderness -- not _howling wilderness_, for I believe no wild animals would inhabit it.”
“Who would lead the line as Rafael Benitez's side bid to end their 20 years in the title wilderness?”
“Praise be those who understand what the wilderness is and how to disconnect.”
“But also Melville is given a chapter, and I think he was a very important figure and one of the leading figures in what I call the wilderness within.”
“The word wilderness, which is more frequently used than desert of the region of the Exodus, more nearly approaches the meaning of the Hebrew, though not quite expressing it.”
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 4: Clandestinity-Diocesan Chancery
“The journal of the march through the wilderness is then given as far as Nu 21: 20; after which the early incidents of the invasion are narrated.”
“Even a wilderness is a safer place than exposure to such evils, terrible as storm and tempest.”
“So the bridal procession of saints in the night of this wilderness is the chief object of Satan's assault.”
“Thus, the woman's flight into the wilderness is the passing of the kingdom of”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘wilderness’.
chained_bear "'Wilderness is both the source of, and a repository of, our national myths about who we really are as a people. Yet the people who are left out there, living the myth, are more out of touch with American life and values than ever before. Ironically, we have always held in higher esteem those who make forays into the wilderness than those who live in it. We're creating an environment for ecotourism, but we're eliminating a culture dedicated to living on, and working with, the land.'"
—James Campbell, The Final Frontiersman (New York and London: Atria Books, 2004), 254–255 Sep 17, 2008