wilderness

/ˈwɪldərnəs/

/ˈwɪldənɪs/

Other forms: wildernesses

If you don’t mow your lawn all summer, don’t be surprised if your neighbors complain that it resembles a wilderness, a wild area that is not tended by humans.

The wilderness is of course filled with many animals, but did you know that the name of an animal is hidden in the word wilderness? The word actually is a combination of wild plus the Old English word dēor, along with the ending -ness, used in nouns that refer to a certain condition. While dēor eventually turned into our modern word deer, it didn’t refer to the antlered Bambi we imagine. It was simply the word for “animal.”

Definitions of wilderness

1. noun

   a wild and uninhabited area left in its natural condition
   “it was a wilderness preserved for the hawks and mountaineers”

   synonyms: wild

   types:

   barren, waste, wasteland

   an uninhabited wilderness that is worthless for cultivation

   bush

   a large wilderness area

   frontier

   a wilderness at the edge of a settled area of a country

   heath, heathland

   a tract of level wasteland; uncultivated land with sandy soil and scrubby vegetation

   outback

   the bush country of the interior of Australia

   type of:

   geographic area, geographic region, geographical area, geographical region

   a demarcated area of the Earth
2. noun

   a bewildering profusion
   “the duties of citizenship are lost sight of in the wilderness of interests of individuals and groups”

   “a wilderness of masts in the harbor”

   type of:

   cornucopia, profuseness, profusion, richness

   the property of being extremely abundant
3. noun

   (politics) a state of disfavor
   “he led the Democratic party back from the wilderness”

   type of:

   disfavor, disfavour

   the state of being out of favor