Etymologically
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wilderness

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 15:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈwɪl.də.nəs/, US /ˈwɪl.dɚ.nəs/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English wildernesse, formed from wildern (“wild, savage”) and -nesse (see -ness).[2][3][4] Wildern is inherited from Old English wilddēoren (“of or like wild beasts”), from wilddēor (“wild beast”), a compound of wilde (“wild”) and dēor (“animal”) (see wild and deer).[2][3][4] Hoad suggests an unrecorded Old English *wilddēornes, comparing Dutch wildernis and German Wildernis,[5] and the NODE gives it as wildēornes, land inhabited only by wild animals.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wild or uncultivated land, a tract inhabited only by wild beasts: about 1200, in the Trinity Homilies.[2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

A particular wild region, with an article (the wilderness), is from before 1225,[7] and a figurative wilderness, something pictured as wild or desolate, from before 1340.[7] A waste of any kind, such as the open sea, is from 1588,[7] a part of a large garden planted in a wild style from before 1644,[7] and the political sense, out of favour or influence (in the wilderness), from 1930.[7][8] The AHD notes that the word may preserve the older general sense “beast” of dēor, which deer has lost.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 1200 – wild, uncultivated land.[2][3][7]
  • before 1225 – a wild region.[7]
  • before 1340 – a figurative wilderness.[7]
  • 1588 – any waste region, the open sea.[7]
  • before 1644 – a wild part of a garden.[7]
  • 1930 – out of favour.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An unsettled, uncultivated region left in its natural state.
  2. A barren or empty area, such as a desert or an ocean; a waste.
  3. A confused mass or collection.
  4. in the wilderness: no longer having influence or recognition.

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin