Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.

Source : WordNet®

desolation
     n 1: the state of being decayed or destroyed [syn: {devastation}]
     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}]