wildernessn.
/ˈwɪldənəs/, U.S. /ˈwɪldərnəs/ 1.
a. (without article) Wild or uncultivated land.Distinguished from desert, in that the latter denotes an uninhabitable and uncultivable region, and implies entire lack of vegetation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [noun]
westerneOE
weste landOE
wastinea1175
westec1175
wastec1200
wildernc1200
wildernessc1200
wildernessc1230
warlottc1290
forestc1320
wastyc1325
deserta1398
wastern?a1400
wildnessa1513
the wilds of1600
vastness1605
vastacy1607
roughet1616
wild1637
wildland1686
bush1780
wastage1823
mesquite1834
wasteland1887
mulga1896
virgin bush1905
boondock1944
boonies1954
virgin land1955
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 161 Weste is cleped þat londe, þat is longe tilðe atleien, and wildernesse, ȝef þare manie rotes onne wacseð.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 15140 He scal habben paþes weste and wildernesse inoȝe.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 2617 In wildernes al bi a well.
a1400 Sir Beues (A.) 3867 Þe geaunt..In a castel hire hadde to ward, In wildernesse al be selue.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) xxi. 98 A grete party of þis cuntree es waste and wilderness and noȝt inhabitid.
c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Augustine (1910) 20 Holy heremites whech dwelled in wildyrnesse.
c1480 (a1400) St. Mary of Egypt 52 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 297 Als he trewyt na man was In abay, na in vildirnes, þat mocht do mare þane he had done.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. vii. sig. Sv He traueild through wide wastfull ground, That nought but desert wildernesse shewed all around.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 164 Twyse he compelled him to take his refuge in wod and wildirnes.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage v. v. 404 The Countrey of Gouren, where we found but few villages, and almost all wildernesse.
1835 W. Irving Tour on Prairies 143 Passing through tracts of wilderness which they have never before traversed.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess i. 17 And tilth, and blowing bosks of wilderness.
b. (with article or other defining word) A wild or uncultivated region or tract of land, uninhabited, or inhabited only by wild animals; ‘a tract of solitude and savageness’ (Johnson).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [noun]
westerneOE
weste landOE
wastinea1175
westec1175
wastec1200
wildernc1200
wildernessc1200
wildernessc1230
warlottc1290
forestc1320
wastyc1325
deserta1398
wastern?a1400
wildnessa1513
the wilds of1600
vastness1605
vastacy1607
roughet1616
wild1637
wildland1686
bush1780
wastage1823
mesquite1834
wasteland1887
mulga1896
virgin bush1905
boondock1944
boonies1954
virgin land1955
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 100 I þe wildernesse [?c1225 Cleo. wildene] ha spieden us to sleanne.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 84 Þe..feaste þeras he wes ane i wildernesse [?c1225 Cleo. wilderne].
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 172 Hyt was onys a munke, and had a celle In a wyldernes for to dwelle.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 11110 He..liued wit rotes and wit gress, Wit honi o þe wildernes.
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 701 In þe wyldrenesse of Wyrale.
?a1500 Nominale (Yale Beinecke 594) in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 798/7 Hec solitudo, a wyldernys.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Job xxxix. 6 Vnto whom I haue geuen the wyldernes to be their house, & the vntilled londe to be their dwellinge place.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. iii. 265 O my poore kingdome..thou wilt be a wildernesse againe, Peopled with woolues, thy old inhabitants. View more context for this quotation
1645 J. Milton Tetrachordon 10 By forcing that upon us as the remedy of solitude, which wraps us in a misery worse then any wildernes.
1785 W. Cowper Task ii. 1 Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness.
1831 W. Scott Castle Dangerous vii*, in Tales of my Landlord 4th Ser. IV. 220 Finding only boundless wildernesses, and varied combinations of tangled woodland scenery.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xix. 368 Temple had made a retreat for himself at a place called Moor Park... The country round his dwelling was almost a wilderness.
c. A piece of ground in a large garden or park, planted with trees, and laid out in an ornamental or fantastic style, often in the form of a maze or labyrinth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > garden > [noun] > other types of garden
grounda1500
knot-garden1519
back-garden1535
summer garden1589
spring garden1612
spring gardena1625
water gardena1626
walled gardena1631
wildernessa1644
window garden1649
botanic garden1662
Hanging Gardens1705
winter garden1736
cottage garden1765
Vauxhall1770
English garden1771
wall garden1780
chinampa1787
moat garden1826
gardenesque1832
sunk garden1835
roof garden1844
weedery1847
wild garden1852
rootery1855
beer-garden1863
Japanese garden1863
bog-garden1883
Italian garden1883
community garden1884
sink garden1894
trough garden1935
sand garden1936
Zen garden1937
hydroponicum1938
tub garden1974
rain garden1994
a1644 F. Quarles Solomons Recantation (1645) ii. 6 I cut me Aquiducts, whose current flees And waters all my wildernesse of trees.
1671 J. Dryden Evening's Love v. 79 Disperse your selves, some into the Wilderness, some into the Allyes, and some into the Parterre.
?1770 H. Chamberlain New & Compl. Hist. & Surv. London & Westminster 641/2 In one part of it [sc. the park] is a pretty wilderness laid out in walks, and planted with a variety of ever-green trees.
1785 W. Cowper Task i. 351.
1839 E. Jesse Summer's Day Hampton Court 77 On the opposite side of the palace there is a large space of ground called the Wilderness, planted and laid out by William III.
1885 M. E. Braddon Wyllard's Weird i Manifold as were the cares of the hot-houses and ferneries and wildernesses.
2. transferred or gen. A waste or desolate region of any kind, e.g. of open sea, of air.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > productiveness > unproductiveness > [noun] > unproductive place
no man's landc1350
wilderness1594
wastage1823
Sahara1855
wasteland1869
dead zone1902
the world > space > place > absence > fact of being unoccupied > [noun] > emptiness > empty or desolate region
desert?c1225
wilderness1594
wasteland1966
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus iii. i. 94 I stand as one vpon a rocke, Inuirond with a wildernes of sea. View more context for this quotation
1629 H. C. Disc. Drayning Fennes sig. B2 The difference between a wildernesse of water & a goodly greene Meddow.
1666 E. Waller Instr. to Painter (new ed.) 6 But who can always on the Billows ly? The watry Wilderness yields no supply.
1821 Ld. Byron Cain ii. i, in Sardanapalus 378 This blue wilderness of interminable Air.
1865 F. Parkman Huguenots iii, in Pioneers of France in New World 30 They..saw the long, low line where the wilderness of waves met the wilderness of woods.
3. figurative.
a. Something figured as a region of a wild or desolate character, or in which one wanders or loses one's way; in religious use applied to the present world or life as contrasted with heaven or the future life (cf. Compounds b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > [noun]
all the worldeOE
mouldOE
worldOE
earthOE
earthricheOE
foldOE
worldricheOE
motherOE
wonec1275
mound?a1300
wildernessa1340
mappemondea1393
lower worlda1398
the whole worlda1513
orba1550
the (also this) globe1553
the earthly globe1553
mother earth1568
the glimpses of the moon1603
universe1630
outer world1661
terrene1667
Orphic egg1684
Midgard1770
all outdoors1833
Planet Earth1858
overworld1911
Spaceship Earth1966
the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > place or area of
wildernessa1340
black spot1832
disaster zone1906
disaster area1911
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > keeping from knowledge > [noun] > making obscure > obscure part or place
wildernessa1340
nightside1848
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter cxlvii. 4 He forsakis vs noght in þis wildirenes.
c1390 G. Chaucer Truth 17 Here is non home, here nys but wyldernesse.
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Trial of Fox l. 1112 in Poems (1981) 46 The meir is men of contemplatioun, Off pennance walkand in this wildernes.
1640 R. Brome Antipodes sig. B4 But sure his mind Is in a wilder nesse: For there he sayes Are Geese that have two heads a peece.
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. i. 52 Thus discursive Argumentation and Rational probabilities mislead men in the Wilderness of Enquiry.
1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 1 As I walk'd through the wilderness of this world. View more context for this quotation
a1708 T. Ward England's Reformation (1710) ii. 46 All they can do's to bid you pore On Bibles till your Eyes are sore, And in that Wilderness of Letter Hunt for your Faiths.
1813 Ld. Byron Giaour 28 The vacant bosom's wilderness.
1868 L. M. Alcott Little Women I. iv. 60 The cosy chairs, the globes, and, best of all, the wilderness of books, in which she could wander where she liked.
b. Rhetorically applied to a place (e.g. a building or town) which one finds ‘desolate’, or in which one is lonely or ‘lost’.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > retirement or seclusion > secluded place or place of seclusion > [noun] > unfrequented place
wastenessa1500
solitude1576
solitary1594
wilderness1842
1842 C. Dickens Amer. Notes I. vi. 211 Passing this wilderness of an hotel with stores about its base.
1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xxiii. 227 So Florence lived in her wilderness of a home.
1891 R. Kipling Light that Failed vii. 140 Meantime, Maisie was alone in London... And the packed wilderness was very full of danger.
c. in the wilderness (in allusion to Numbers xiv. 33), (a) of a politician, political party, etc.: out of office; (b) gen. unrecognized, out of favour.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > by virtue of office [phrase] > out of office
in the wilderness1930
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > obscurity or ingloriousness > in obscurity [phrase]
without a name1594
in the wilderness1966
1930 Economist 2 Aug. 220/1 For Charles X represented a Restoration of the Ancien Régime..which had ‘learnt nothing and forgotten nothing’ during a quarter of a century in the wilderness.
1958 Spectator 6 June 719/3 Parties should liquidate their failures and frustrations in the wilderness, not in power.
1966 Listener 5 May 661/2 Richard Baker asked Bernard Keeffe why Mahler, so long in the wilderness as far as England was concerned, is now a box-office success.
1969 Listener 3 July 12/3 Carmichael has now accepted a junior post in the Panther hierarchy and Rap Brown and Jim Foreman have been driven into the wilderness.
1976 Southern Evening Echo (Southampton) 17 Nov. 22/3 If he fails to gain the title he lost to Cain on a cut eye decision, it could mean months in the wilderness and set him back even further.
1984 Times 1 Aug. 17/2 After months in the wilderness, which has seen the price slip from a high of 951/ 2p to a low of 651/ 2p shares of Marley..is [sic] back in favour with the institutions.
4. A mingled, confused, or vast assemblage or collection of persons or things. (Usually coloured by other senses; in reference to a growth of plants, nearly coinciding with 1b; in reference to buildings, etc., often approaching 3b.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > variety > [noun] > incongruous mixture
hotchpotc1405
hodge-podgec1426
omnigatherum?a1430
mishmashc1475
peasemeala1525
omnium gatherum1530
mingle1548
hotchpotch1549
mingle-mangle1549
gallimaufry1551
rhapsody1574
sauce-medley1579
pell-mellc1586
linsey-woolsey1592
wilderness1594
brewage1599
motley1609
macaronic1611
medley1618
olla podridaa1635
farragoa1637
consarcination1640
porridge1642
olio1645
bisque1653
mélange1653
hash1660
jumble1661
farrage1698
capilotade1705
jargon1710
salmagundi1761
pasticcio1785
pea meal1789
ollapod1804
mixty-maxty1818
macédoine1820
ragbag1820
haggis1822
job lot1828
allsorts1831
conglomerate1837
pot-pourri1841
chow-chow1850
breccia1873
pastiche1873
macaroni1884
mixed bag1919
casserole1930
mixed bunch1958
rattle-bag1982
mulligan1993
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > absence of arrangement > [noun] > a disorderly collection
rabblea1398
hotchpotc1405
hotchpotchc1410
mishmashc1475
gaggle?1478
chaos?1550
humble-jumble1550
huddle1587
wilderness1594
lurry1607
hatterc1626
farragoa1637
bumble1648
higgledy-piggledy1659
jumble1661
clutter1666
hugger-mugger1674
litter1730
imbroglio1753
confusion1791
cludder1801
hurrah's nest1829
hotter1834
welter1857
muddle1863
splatter1895
shamble1926
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus iii. i. 53 Dost thou not perceiue That Rome is but a wildernes of tygers? View more context for this quotation
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice iii. i. 114 I would not haue giuen it for a Wildernes of Monkies. View more context for this quotation
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage vii. xii. 598 It was called Madera, of the wildernesses of Trees there growing.
a1625 J. Fletcher Bonduca v. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Iiiiv/2 The Land thou hast left a wildernesse of wretches.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 294 Through Groves of Myrrhe, And flouring Odours, Cassia, Nard, and Balme; A Wilderness of sweets. View more context for this quotation
1678 E. Howard Man of Newmarket i. 1 This Metropolitan Wilderness of Houses, call'd London.
1794 R. B. Sheridan Duenna (new ed.) i. 12 A wilderness of faults and follies.
1824 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XVI iii. 62 This Epic will contain A wilderness of the most rare conceits.
1856 C. Dickens Little Dorrit (1857) i. ix. 72 The wilderness of masts on the river, and the wilderness of steeples on the shore.
a. Wildness, uncultivated condition. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [noun] > quality of
wildnessc1374
wildernessc1449
wasteness1608
inculture1653
uncultivation1796
ferality1885
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 370 The tenementis..is better..kept fro falling into nouȝt and into wildirnes.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 245 These paths and Bowers doubt not but our joynt hands Will keep from Wilderness with ease. View more context for this quotation
b. figurative. Wildness of character, licentiousness. Obsolete.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > profligacy, dissoluteness, or debauchery > [noun]
ribaldyc1300
riotc1330
ribaldry1389
riotingc1390
riotry?a1400
wildnessc1400
arrioutc1410
ramageness1440
ribaldise?c1450
unthriftinessc1450
ramagec1485
riotousness?1535
royet1542
dissoluteness1549
ruffianing1549
riotness1553
wildernessa1616
debauchery1642
profligateness1668
profligacy1693
rakishness1737
rakism1777
profligation1805
rouéism1828
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iii. i. 143 For such a warped slip of wildernesse Nere issu'd from his blood. View more context for this quotation
Compounds
attributive.
a. literal (in quot. 1670 in sense 1c).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [adjective] > characteristic of
wildernessa1586
wild1690
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. xvii. sig. L4 Being one of that little wildernesse-company.
1670 L. Meager Eng. Gardener (title page) The ordering of the Garden of Pleasure, with variety of Knots, and Wilderness-work.
1801 Farmer's Mag. Aug. 297 14 acres of wilderness land converted into grass.
c1875 E. Thring in Skrine Mem. (1889) 218 The poor beggars had tightish work with all that wilderness life before them.
b. figurative; esp. in former religious use, belonging to the present world or life (cf. 3).
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > unspirituality > [adjective]
worldlyOE
dryc1175
fleshlyc1175
of the world?c1225
secularc1290
timely1340
of hencec1384
uttermore1395
worldisha1400
profane1474
humanc1475
mundanec1475
mundial1499
carnal?1510
seculary1520
unghostly1526
worldly-minded1528
sensual1529
earthly-minded1535
civil1536
subcelestial1561
worldly-witted1563
secular-minded1597
ghostlessa1603
lay1609
mundal1614
non-ecclesiastical1630
unspiritual1643
wilderness1651
worldly-handed1657
outward1674
timesome1674
apsychical1678
secularized1683
hylastic1684
choical1708
Sadducee1746
gay1798
unspiritualized1816
secularizing1825
unreligious1832
secularistic1862
apneumatic1864
Sadduceeic1875
this-worldly1883
this world1889
1651 R. Baxter Saints Everlasting Rest (new ed.) ii. ix. §1. 290 If they had not felt their Wildernes-necessities, God should not have exercised his Wildernes-providences and mercies.
1675 T. Brooks Word in Season 29 in Paradice Opened A Wilderness condition is..a condition of straits, wants, deep distresses, and most deadly dangers.
1679 C. Ness Distinct Disc. Antichrist 208 Tainted both with Egypts idolatry, and wilderness-sins.
1719 J. T. Philipps tr. B. Ziegenbalg Thirty-four Confer. 79 The Progress thro' this Wilderness-World, towards a better..Life.
1898 G. Meredith Odes French Hist. 16 Her soul On eddies of wild water cast, In wilderness division.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1924; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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