Wilderness \Wil"der*ness\, n. [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 Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)