wildernesse

== English == === Noun === wildernesse (plural wildernesses) Obsolete spelling of wilderness. == Middle English == === Alternative forms === wildernes, wildernosse, wildirnes, wildirnesse, wildrenes, wyldernyse, wyldernesse, wyldernyse, wyldrenesse wildirenes, wildurnes, wyldernese, wyldurnesse (Late Middle English) wyldirnes (Early Scots) === Etymology === Usually derived from Old English *wildēornes, *wilddēornes, either from wilddēor (“wild animal”) +‎ -nes, thus equivalent to wilde (“wild”) +‎ der (“animal, deer”) +‎ -nesse (“-ness”), or wilddēoren (“savage, wild”) +‎ -nes. Alternatively, from wilderne (“wilderness”) +‎ -nesse. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈwildərˌnɛs(ə)/ === Noun === wildernesse (plural wildernesses) A wilderness; an desolate or unpopulated place: A ruin; a devastated or depopulated place. (rare, figurative) Destruction, desolation. (rare, figurative) The isolation of human existence. ==== Descendants ==== English: wilderness Middle Scots: wildernes Scots: wilderness ==== References ==== “wī̆ldernes(se, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.