WILDERNESS

wilderness

(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”

wilderness, wild

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

Wilderness

(noun) a wooded region in northeastern Virginia near Spotsylvania where bloody but inconclusive battles were fought in the American Civil War

wilderness

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

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

wilderness (countable and uncountable, plural wildernesses)

(countable, uncountable) An unsettled and uncultivated tract of land in its natural state; a barren land; a wild or waste.

(countable, uncountable) A place that is uncared for, and therefore devoted to disorder or wildness.

(uncountable) Wild or unrefined state; wildness.

(countable) A bewildering flock or throng.

(countable) A situation that is bewildering, or that which makes one feel awkward.

Source: Wiktionary

Wil"der*ness, n. Etym: [OE. wildernesse, wilderne,probably from AS. wildor a wild beast; cf. D. wildernis wilderness. See Wilder, v. t.]

1. A tract of land, or a region, uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings, whether a forest or a wide, barren plain; a wild; a waste; a desert; a pathless waste of any kind. The wat'ry wilderness yields no supply. Waller.

2. A disorderly or neglected place. Cowper.

3. Quality or state of being wild; wildness. [Obs.] These paths and bowers doubt not but our joint hands. Will keep from wilderness with ease. Milton.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition