Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Desolate \Des"o*late\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Desolated}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Desolating}.]
   1. To make desolate; to leave alone; to deprive of
      inhabitants; as, the earth was nearly desolated by the
      flood.

   2. To lay waste; to ruin; to ravage; as, a fire desolates a
      city.

            Constructed in the very heart of a desolating war.
                                                  --Sparks.

Desolate \Des"o*late\, a. [L. desolatus, p. p. of desolare to
   leave alone, forsake; de- + solare to make lonely, solus
   alone. See {Sole}, a.]
   1. Destitute or deprived of inhabitants; deserted;
      uninhabited; hence, gloomy; as, a desolate isle; a
      desolate wilderness; a desolate house.

            I will make Jerusalem . . . a den of dragons, and I
            will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an
            inhabitant.                           --Jer. ix. 11.

            And the silvery marish flowers that throng The
            desolate creeks and pools among.      --Tennyson.

   2. Laid waste; in a ruinous condition; neglected; destroyed;
      as, desolate altars.

   3. Left alone; forsaken; lonely; comfortless.

            Have mercy upon, for I am desolate.   --Ps. xxv. 16.

            Voice of the poor and desolate.       --Keble.

   4. Lost to shame; dissolute. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

   5. Destitute of; lacking in. [Obs.]

            I were right now of tales desolate.   --Chaucer.

   Syn: Desert; uninhabited; lonely; waste.

Source : WordNet®

desolate
     adj 1: providing no shelter or sustenance; "bare rocky hills";
            "barren lands"; "the bleak treeless regions of the
            high Andes"; "the desolate surface of the moon"; "a
            stark landscape" [syn: {bare}, {barren}, {bleak}, {stark}]
     2: pitiable in circumstances especially through abandonment;
        "desolate and despairing"; "left forlorn" [syn: {forlorn},
         {godforsaken}, {lorn}]
     3: crushed by grief; "depressed and desolate of soul"; "a low
        desolate wail"
     4: made uninhabitable; "upon this blasted heath"- Shakespeare;
        "a wasted landscape" [syn: {blasted}, {desolated}, {devastated},
         {ravaged}, {ruined}, {wasted}]

desolate
     v 1: leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the
          lurch; "The mother deserted her children" [syn: {abandon},
           {forsake}, {desert}]
     2: reduce in population; "The epidemic depopulated the
        countryside" [syn: {depopulate}]
     3: devastate or ravage; "The enemy lay waste to the countryside
        after the invasion" [syn: {lay waste to}, {waste}, {devastate},
         {ravage}, {scourge}]