English → Latin
“desolate” in Latin
vāstusEmpty, unoccupied, i.e. waste, desert.; Desolate, deserted, made lonely.; Wasted by destruction, laid waste, ravaged, dedēserōto leave, depart, desert, quit; to forsake, abandon, give up; to let downincultusuntilled, uncultivated; neglected; unadorned, unpolishedsōlitūdōAn instance of being alone; loneliness, solitariness, solitude, privacy; A lonely place; desert, wilderness; A state of tescumwilderness, wasteland, desertorbusdeprived, destitute (of)afflīgōto strike, beat, dash (against); cast or throw down, prostrate; to afflict, damage, injure, crush, break or ruin; to hummoestussad, unhappy; mournful, gloomy; stern, grimdēsōlōto leave alone, make lonely, lay waste, desolate; to forsake, abandon or desert
The English word desolate itself goes back to Latin sōlus, through dēsōlātus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
desolate adj.
vastus (without human habitations; opposed to coaedificatus, Georges; uncultivated, opposed to cultus; Döderlein): desertus (deserted by men; opposed to celeber, Georges; to habitatus, Döderlein): incultus (opposed to cultus). (The words are found in this connection and order.) vastus ac desertus; desertus vastusque; incultus et desertus; incultus et derelictus. Desolate places, solitudo (without blame): loca deserta: tesqua (in which an awful silence reigns; Döderlein, Hor.): to make desolate, vastare, devastare; alicui loco vastitatem inferre: to make a land desolate, vastas solitudines facere ex terra; vastitatem reddere in terra; tectis atque agris vastitatem inferre.
Of persons; hopeless, etc., spe destitutus: orbus: orbus auxilii (Plaut.): afflictus: moestus, etc.: desolatus (Plin., Tac., and poetical); also with ablative (deserta desolataque reliquis subsidiis aula, Suet.).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for desolate?
- The usual Latin words for “desolate” are vāstus, dēserō, incultus; also sōlitūdō, tescum, orbus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.