 4 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
wilderness
noun: a wild and uninhabited area [syn: {wild}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Wilderness \Wil"der*ness\, noun [OE. wildernesse,
wilderne,probably from AS. wildor a wild beast; cf. D.
wildernis wilderness. See {Wilder}, verb (used with an object)]
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.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
85 Moby Thesaurus words for "wilderness":
Arabia Deserta, Chinese puzzle, Death Valley, Gordian knot,
Lebensraum, Rube Goldberg contraption, Sahara, air space,
back country, back of beyond, backcountry, backlands, backwoods,
barren, barren land, barrens, boondock, boondocks, borderland,
brush, bush, bush country, bushveld, can of worms, clear space,
clearance, clearing, complex, desert, desolation, distant prospect,
dust bowl, empty view, forests, frontier, glade, heath, hinterland,
howling wilderness, jungle, karroo, knot, labyrinth, living space,
lunar landscape, lunar waste, maze, meander, mesh, mess,
open country, open space, outback, outpost, perplex, plain,
prairie, ravel, salt flat, snafu, snake pit, snarl, steppe, tangle,
tangled skein, terrain, territory, the bush, timbers,
uninhabited region, up-country, virgin land, virgin territory,
waste, wasteland, weary waste, webwork, wheels within wheels,
wide-open spaces, wild, wild West, wildness, wilds, woodlands,
woods
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Wilderness
(1.) Heb. midhbar, denoting not a barren desert but a district
or region suitable for pasturing sheep and cattle (Ps. 65:12;
Isa. 42:11; Jer. 23:10; Joel 1:19; 2:22); an uncultivated place.
This word is used of the wilderness of Beersheba (Gen. 21:14),
on the southern border of Palestine; the wilderness of the Red
Sea (Ex. 13:18); of Shur (15:22), a portion of the Sinaitic
peninsula; of Sin (17:1), Sinai (Lev. 7:38), Moab (Deut. 2:8),
Judah (Judg. 1:16), Ziph, Maon, En-gedi (1 Sam. 23:14, 24;
24:1), Jeruel and Tekoa (2 Chr. 20:16, 20), Kadesh (Ps. 29:8).
"The wilderness of the sea" (Isa. 21:1). Principal Douglas,
referring to this expression, says: "A mysterious name, which
must be meant to describe Babylon (see especially ver. 9),
perhaps because it became the place of discipline to God's
people, as the wilderness of the Red Sea had been (comp. Ezek.
20:35). Otherwise it is in contrast with the symbolic title in
Isa. 22:1. Jerusalem is the "valley of vision," rich in
spiritual husbandry; whereas Babylon, the rival centre of
influence, is spiritually barren and as restless as the sea
(comp. 57:20)." A Short Analysis of the O.T.
(2.) Jeshimon, a desert waste (Deut. 32:10; Ps. 68:7).
(3.) 'Arabah, the name given to the valley from the Dead Sea
to the eastern branch of the Red Sea. In Deut. 1:1; 2:8, it is
rendered "plain" (R.V., "Arabah").
(4.) Tziyyah, a "dry place" (Ps. 78:17; 105:41).
(5.) Tohu, a "desolate" place, a place "waste" or "unoccupied"
(Deut. 32:10; Job 12:24; comp. Gen. 1:2, "without form"). The
wilderness region in the Sinaitic peninsula through which for
forty years the Hebrews wandered is generally styled "the
wilderness of the wanderings." This entire region is in the form
of a triangle, having its base toward the north and its apex
toward the south. Its extent from north to south is about 250
miles, and at its widest point it is about 150 miles broad.
Throughout this vast region of some 1,500 square miles there is
not a single river. The northern part of this triangular
peninsula is properly the "wilderness of the wanderings"
(et-Tih). The western portion of it is called the "wilderness of
Shur" (Ex. 15:22), and the eastern the "wilderness of Paran."
The "wilderness of Judea" (Matt. 3:1) is a wild, barren
region, lying between the Dead Sea and the Hebron Mountains. It
is the "Jeshimon" mentioned in 1 Sam. 23:19.
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