n.
Pronunciation: ' wil-d ə r-n ə s
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from wildern wild, from Old English wildd ē oren of wild beasts
Date: 13th century
1 a (1) : a tract or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings (2) : an area essentially undisturbed by human activity together with its naturally developed life community b : an empty or pathless area or region <in remote wilderness es of space groups of nebulae are found ― G. W. Gray † 1960> c : a part of a garden devoted to wild growth
2 obsolete : wild or uncultivated state
3 a : a confusing multitude or mass : an indefinitely great number or quantity <I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys ― Shakespeare> b : a bewildering situation <those moral wilderness es of civilized life ― Norman Mailer>