Etymology

desolate

D2E1S1O1L1A1T1E1

Today it means: Deserted and devoid of inhabitants. Full definition →

Middle English desolat(e)
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

desolate · adjective1

  1. Middle English · inherited fromdesolat(e)
  2. English todaydesolate

From Middle English desolat(e). See Etymology 2 and -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more.

desolate · verb2

  1. Middle English · inherited fromdesolaten“to desolate”
  2. English todaydesolate

From Middle English desolaten (“to desolate”), from desolat(e) (“desolate”), from Latin dēsōlātus, perfect passive participle of dēsōlō (“to leave alone, make lonely, lay waste, desolate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.