wilderness

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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˈwɪldənəs/
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• Received-Pronunciation: /-nɪs/
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• General-American: /ˈwɪldɚnəs/
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• General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• CMU ARPABET: W IH1 L D ER0 N AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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From Middle English wildernes, wildernesse (“desolate or uninhabited place, desolation”) [and other forms], and then either: * from Middle English wilderne (“deserted or uninhabited place, wilderness; land not yet settled”) [and other forms] (from Old English wilddeōren (“savage, wild”); see below) + -nes, -nesse (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting qualities or states); or * from Old English *wildēornes, *wilddēornes, either from wilddēor (“wild animal”) [and other forms] or wilddēoren (“savage, wild”) (from wilddēor + -en (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘consisting of; material made of’)) + -nes (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting qualities or states). Wilddēor is derived from wilde (“savage, wild”) (ultimately either from Proto-Indo-European *wel-, *welw- (“hair, wool; ear of corn, grass; forest”), or *gwhel- (“wild”)) + dēor (“beast, wild animal”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dhwes- (“to breathe; breath; soul, spirit; creature”)). The English word is cognate with Danish vildnis (“wilderness”), German Wildernis, Wildnis (“wilderness”), Middle Dutch wildernisse (“wilderness”) (modern Dutch wildernis (“wilderness”)), Middle Low German wildernisse (“wilderness”) (German Low German Wildernis (“wilderness”)), Saterland Frisian Wüüldernis (“wilderness”), West Frisian wyldernis (“wilderness”). Sense 3.3 (“situation of disfavour or lack of recognition”) is a reference to Numbers 14:32–33 in the Bible (King James Version; spelling modernized): “But as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness.”

95 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Arabic: بَرِّيَّة (barriyya) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Belarusian: глуш (hluš) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Belarusian: пустэча (pusteča) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Belarusian: дзікая мясціна (dzikaja mjascina) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Belarusian: дзікі абшар (dziki abšar) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Bulgarian: пустош (pustoš) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Catalan: selva — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Catalan: regió salvatge — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Catalan: natura salvatge — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Chinese Mandarin: 荒野 (huāngyě) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Chinese Mandarin: 荒原 (huāngyuán) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Czech: divočina — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Old Czech: divočina — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Danish: vildmark — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Danish: vildnis — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Dutch: wildernis — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Esperanto: sovaĝejo — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Faroese: villiniland — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Finnish: erämaa — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Finnish: kaira — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Finnish: korpi — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• French: nature sauvage — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• French: région sauvage — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• French: contrée sauvage — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Galician: monte — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• German: Wildnis — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• German: Wüste — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Gothic: 𐌰𐌿𐌸𐌹𐌳𐌰 (auþida) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Greek: ερημιά (erimiá) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Ancient Greek: ἔρημος (érēmos) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Hungarian: vadon — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Icelandic: óbyggðir — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Indonesian: alam bebas — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Indonesian: alam lepas — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Indonesian: alam liar — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Irish: fiántas — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Italian: natura — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Japanese: 原野 (gen'ya) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Japanese: 荒野 (kōya) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Northern Kurdish: berî — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Northern Kurdish: çol — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Latin: dēsertum — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Latin: tesqua — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Macedonian: дивина (divina) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Malay: alam liar — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Māori: koraha — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Marshallese: bukun mar — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Meru: muitu — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Middle English: wildernesse — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Middle English: desert — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Central Sierra Miwok: halé·-to- — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Ndonga: ombuga class 9 — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Norwegian Bokmål: villnis — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Norwegian Bokmål: villmark — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Norwegian Nynorsk: villnis — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Norwegian Nynorsk: villmark — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Old English: wēsten — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Plautdietsch: Wiltniss — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Polish: dzicz — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Polish: manowce — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Polish: pustkowie — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Polish: pustynia — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Portuguese: mato — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Portuguese: sertão — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Portuguese: selva — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Portuguese: vastidão — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Russian: ди́кая приро́да (díkaja priróda) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Russian: нетро́нутая приро́да (netrónutaja priróda) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Russian: целина́ (celiná) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Russian: глушь (glušʹ) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Scottish Gaelic: fàsach — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Serbo-Croatian: divljina — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Spanish: descampado — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Spanish: jungla — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Spanish: maleza — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Spanish: monte — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Spanish: naturaleza — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Spanish: páramo — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Spanish: selva — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Spanish: tierra salvaje — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Swahili: jangwa — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Swahili: pori — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Swedish: vildmark — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Swedish: ödemark — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Swedish: obygd — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Turkish: bakir alan — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Turkish: kır — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Turkish: vahşi tabiat — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Turkish: yozlak — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Ottoman Turkish: قیر (kır) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Ottoman Turkish: یابان (yaban) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Ugaritic: 𐎎𐎄𐎁𐎗 (mdbr) — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Welsh: diffeithwch — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Zulu: indle — uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land
• Indonesian: tanah kosong — place other than land that is uncared for