wilderness

/ˈwil-dər-nəs/

Middle English, from wildern wild, from Old English wilddēoren of wild beasts

noun

  1. a tract or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings

  2. an area essentially undisturbed by human activity together with its naturally developed life community

  3. an empty or pathless area or region

in remote wildernesses of space groups of nebulae are found

noun

  1. an often large tract of public land maintained essentially in its natural state and protected against introduction of intrusive artifacts (such as roads and buildings)

geographical name

  1. trail from southwestern Virginia to central Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap that was blazed to the site of Boonesborough by Daniel Boone in 1775 and later extended to the falls of the Ohio River at Louisville