Dĕs'o-lā'tion, n.

n. [Lat. desolatio, Fr. désolation, Sp. desolacion, It. desolazione.] 1. The act of desolating or laying waste; destruction. Unto the end of the war desolations are determined. Dan. ix. 26. 2. The state of being desolated, laid waste, or ravaged; destitution; gloominess; ruin. You would have sold your king to slaughter, . . . And his whole kingdom into desolation. Shak. 3. A desolate place or country. How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! Jer. i. 23. Syn.—Waste; ruin; destruction; havoc; devastation; ravage; sadness; destitution; melancholy; gloom; gloominess.