Etymologically
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devastation

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˌdɛ.vəˈsteɪ.ʃn̩/ (UK); /ˌdɛ.vəˈsteɪ.ʃən/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English devastacioun,[2][3] borrowed from Medieval Latin dēvastātiō (Late Latin according to Random House and Merriam-Webster Unabridged),[4][3][5] from Latin dēvastātus, past participle of dēvastāre (“to lay waste completely”),[4][6] from dē- (“completely”) and vastāre (“to lay waste”), from vastus (“empty, desolate”).[4] Klein and the Shorter Oxford also allow French dévastation as the source.[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ravaging, destruction: in 1461, “Extortions, usurpations, collusions, Ryotes & Devastations”.[2]

Semantic evolution

The word is recorded in the mid-15th century[4][2] but was rare until the OED's next quotation in 1603.[8][9] Johnson (1755) defined it as “waste; havock; desolation; destruction”.[10] In law it came to mean the wasting of a dead person's estate by an executor or administrator (1670 in the OED, late 17th century in the Shorter Oxford), also called devastavit.[8][7][5] Its modern use for overwhelming grief or shock follows the verb devastate.[11][12]

Timeline

  • 1461 – ravaging, destruction (MED).[2]
  • 1603 – first OED quotation.[8][9]
  • 1670 – the legal sense of wasting an estate.[8]
  • 1755 – Johnson's definition.[10]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act of laying waste, or the state of being laid waste; widespread destruction.
  2. Great shock or grief; the state of being overwhelmed.
  3. (law) Waste of a dead person's estate by an executor or administrator; devastavit.
  • devastate
  • vast
  • waste
  • vastation

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  10. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  12. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press