Added 9 October 2026
wilderness
/ˈwɪldənəs/ noun
In Latin: dēsertum, tesqua Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about wilderness at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
-
(politics) a state of disfavor.
he led the Democratic party back from the wilderness
- A wooded region in northeastern Virginia near Spotsylvania where bloody but inconclusive battles were fought in the American Civil War.
-
A wild and uninhabited area left in its natural condition.
it was a wilderness preserved for the hawks and mountaineers
Origin
From Middle English wildernes, wildernesse (“desolate or uninhabited place, desolation”) [and other forms], and then either: * from Middle English wilderne (“deserted or uninhabited place, wilderness; land not yet settled”) [and other forms] (from Old English wilddeōren (“savage, wild”); see below) + -nes, -nesse (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting qualities or states); or * from Old English *wildēornes, *wilddēornes, either from wilddēor (“wild animal”) [and other forms] or wilddēoren (“savage, wild”) (from wilddēor + -en (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘consisting of; material made of’)) + -nes (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting qualities or states).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)