Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - wilderness

 noun  Etymology: Middle English, from wildern wild, from Old English wilddeoren of wild beasts  Date: 13th century  1.  a.  (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  b. an empty or pathless area or region in remote ~es of space groups of nebulae are found — G. W. Gray †1960  c. a part of a garden devoted to wild growth  2. obsolete wild or uncultivated state  3.  a. a confusing multitude or mass ; an indefinitely great number or quantity I would not have given it for a ~ of monkeys — Shakespeare  b. a bewildering situation those moral ~es of civilized life — Norman Mailer