Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Wilderness \Wil"der*ness\, n. [OE. wildernesse,
   wilderne,probably from AS. wildor a wild beast; cf. D.
   wildernis wilderness. See {Wilder}, v. t.]
   1. A tract of land, or a region, uncultivated and uninhabited
      by human beings, whether a forest or a wide, barren plain;
      a wild; a waste; a desert; a pathless waste of any kind.

            The wat'ry wilderness yields no supply. --Waller.

   2. A disorderly or neglected place. --Cowper.

   3. Quality or state of being wild; wildness. [Obs.]

            These paths and bowers doubt not but our joint
            hands. Will keep from wilderness with ease.
                                                  --Milton.

Source : WordNet®

wilderness
     n : a wild and uninhabited area [syn: {wild}]