WILDERNESS


Meaning of WILDERNESS in English

transcription, транскрипция: [ ˈwil-dər-nəs ]

noun

Etymology: Middle English, from wildern wild, from Old English wilddēoren 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

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary.      Энциклопедический словарь английского языка Merriam Webster.