[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

wilderness \wil"derness\, n. oe. wildernesse,
   wilderne,probably from as. wildor a wild beast; cf. d.
   wildernis wilderness. see wilder, v. t.
   1913 webster
   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.
      1913 webster

            the wat'ry wilderness yields no supply. --waller.
      1913 webster

   2. a disorderly or neglected place. --cowper.
      1913 webster

   3. quality or state of being wild; wildness. obs.
      1913 webster

            these paths and bowers doubt not but our joint
            hands.
            will keep from wilderness with ease.  --milton.
      1913 webster
see also:
wilder 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

wilderness
     n : a wild and uninhabited area syn: wild
see also:
wild 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

85 moby thesaurus words for "wilderness":
   arabia deserta, chinese puzzle, death valley, gordian knot,
   lebensraum, rube goldberg contraption, sahara, air space,
   back country, back of beyond, backcountry, backlands, backwoods,
   barren, barren land, barrens, boondock, boondocks, borderland,
   brush, bush, bush country, bushveld, can of worms, clear space,
   clearance, clearing, complex, desert, desolation, distant prospect,
   dust bowl, empty view, forests, frontier, glade, heath, hinterland,
   howling wilderness, jungle, karroo, knot, labyrinth, living space,
   lunar landscape, lunar waste, maze, meander, mesh, mess,
   open country, open space, outback, outpost, perplex, plain,
   prairie, ravel, salt flat, snafu, snake pit, snarl, steppe, tangle,
   tangled skein, terrain, territory, the bush, timbers,
   uninhabited region, up-country, virgin land, virgin territory,
   waste, wasteland, weary waste, webwork, wheels within wheels,
   wide-open spaces, wild, wild west, wildness, wilds, woodlands,
   woods

[4] : Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

wilderness
   1. heb. midhbar, denoting not a barren desert but a district
   or region suitable for pasturing sheep and cattle ps. 65:12;
   isa. 42:11; jer. 23:10; joel 1:19; 2:22; an uncultivated place.
   this word is used of the wilderness of beersheba gen. 21:14,
   on the southern border of palestine; the wilderness of the red
   sea ex. 13:18; of shur 15:22, a portion of the sinaitic
   peninsula; of sin 17:1, sinai lev. 7:38, moab deut. 2:8,
   judah judg. 1:16, ziph, maon, en-gedi 1 sam. 23:14, 24;
   24:1, jeruel and tekoa 2 chr. 20:16, 20, kadesh ps. 29:8.
   
     "the wilderness of the sea" isa. 21:1. principal douglas,
   referring to this expression, says: "a mysterious name, which
   must be meant to describe babylon see especially ver. 9,
   perhaps because it became the place of discipline to god's
   people, as the wilderness of the red sea had been comp. ezek.
   20:35. otherwise it is in contrast with the symbolic title in
   isa. 22:1. jerusalem is the "valley of vision," rich in
   spiritual husbandry; whereas babylon, the rival centre of
   influence, is spiritually barren and as restless as the sea
   comp. 57:20." a short analysis of the o.t.
   
     2. jeshimon, a desert waste deut. 32:10; ps. 68:7.
   
     3. 'arabah, the name given to the valley from the dead sea
   to the eastern branch of the red sea. in deut. 1:1; 2:8, it is
   rendered "plain" r.v., "arabah".
   
     4. tziyyah, a "dry place" ps. 78:17; 105:41.
   
     5. tohu, a "desolate" place, a place "waste" or "unoccupied"
   deut. 32:10; job 12:24; comp. gen. 1:2, "without form". the
   wilderness region in the sinaitic peninsula through which for
   forty years the hebrews wandered is generally styled "the
   wilderness of the wanderings." this entire region is in the form
   of a triangle, having its base toward the north and its apex
   toward the south. its extent from north to south is about 250
   miles, and at its widest point it is about 150 miles broad.
   throughout this vast region of some 1,500 square miles there is
   not a single river. the northern part of this triangular
   peninsula is properly the "wilderness of the wanderings"
   et-tih. the western portion of it is called the "wilderness of
   shur" ex. 15:22, and the eastern the "wilderness of paran."
   
     the "wilderness of judea" matt. 3:1 is a wild, barren
   region, lying between the dead sea and the hebron mountains. it
   is the "jeshimon" mentioned in 1 sam. 23:19.
   

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