devastation English · revision 1875

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1461|origins=la vastus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˌdɛ.vəˈsteɪ.ʃn̩/ ''(UK)''; /ˌdɛ.vəˈsteɪ.ʃən/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|devastacioun]],^(MED)^(RHWU) [[bor|la-med|dēvastātiō]] (Late Latin according to Random House and Merriam-Webster Unabridged),^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)^(MWU 2024) from [[la|dēvastātus]], past participle of [[m|la|dēvastāre|t=to lay waste completely]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) from [[m|la|dē-|t=completely]] and [[m|la|vastāre|t=to lay waste]], from [[m|la|vastus|t=empty, desolate]].^(Etymonline) Klein and the Shorter Oxford also allow [[fr|dévastation]] as the source.^(Klein 1966)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Ravaging, destruction: in 1461, “Extortions, usurpations, collusions, Ryotes & Devastations”.^(MED)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word is recorded in the mid-15th century^(Etymonline)^(MED) but was rare until the OED's next quotation in 1603.^(OED 1989)^(HTOED) Johnson (1755) defined it as “waste; havock; desolation; destruction”.^(Johnson 1755) 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''.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) Its modern use for overwhelming grief or shock follows the verb ''[[devastate]]''.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1461 – ravaging, destruction (MED).^(MED)

+ * 1603 – first OED quotation.^(OED 1989)^(HTOED)

+ * 1670 – the legal sense of wasting an estate.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1755 – Johnson's definition.^(Johnson 1755)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act of laying waste, or the state of being laid waste; widespread destruction.^(AHD)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Great shock or [[grief]]; the state of being overwhelmed.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # ''(law)'' Waste of a dead person's [[estate]] by an [[executor]] or administrator; [[devastavit]].^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(Chambers 2008)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[devastate]]

+ * [[vast]]

+ * [[waste]]

+ * [[vastation]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}