Definition of wilderness
1a(1)
: a tract or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings
(2)
: an area essentially undisturbed by human activity together with its naturally developed life community
b
: an empty or pathless area or region
in remote wildernesses of space groups of nebulae are found— G. W. Gray †1960
c
: a part of a garden devoted to wild growth
2
obsolete
: wild or uncultivated state
3a
: a confusing multitude or mass : an indefinitely great number or quantity
I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys— William Shakespeare
b
: a bewildering situation
those moral wildernesses of civilized life— Norman Mailer
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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Time Traveler for wilderness
The first known use of wilderness was in the 13th century
See more words from the same century