Hypertext Webster Gateway: "desolation"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Desolation \Des`o*la"tion\, n. [F. d['e]solation, L. desolatio.]
1. The act of desolating or laying waste; destruction of
inhabitants; depopulation.
Unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
--Dan. ix. 26.
2. The state of being desolated or laid waste; ruin;
solitariness; destitution; gloominess.
You would have sold your king to slaughter, . . .
And his whole kingdom into desolation. --Shak.
3. A place or country wasted and forsaken.
How is Babylon become a desolation! --Jer. l. 23.
Syn: Waste; ruin; destruction; havoc; devastation; ravage;
sadness; destitution; melancholy; gloom; gloominess.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
desolation
n 1: the state of being decayed or destroyed [syn: {devastation},
{ruin}]
2: a bleak and desolate atmosphere [syn: {bleakness}]
3: sadness resulting from being forsaken or abandoned [syn: {forlornness},
{loneliness}]
4: an event that results in total destruction [syn: {devastation}]
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