Where does “wilderness” come from?
Wilderness comes from Middle English wildernesse, from a base meaning untamed or uncultivated land.
wilderness (English): An unsettled and uncultivated tract of land in...
Definitions
- An unsettled and uncultivated tract of land in...
Ancestry of “wilderness”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old English | *wildēornes | — |
| 2 | Old English | wilddēor | wild animal |
| 3 | Old English | -nes | Used to form abstract nouns, usually from... |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | -nassī | Used to form abstract nouns, usually from... |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -inassuz | -ness |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | -ī | -ness, -th |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | -į̄ | -th |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -íh₂ | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -h₂ | Creates collective nouns, which refer to groups... |