English → Latin
“desolation” in Latin
vāstātiōdesolating, ravaging, devastationpopulātiōthe act of laying waste or plundering; plunder, booty; destruction, devastation, corruption, ruindēpopulātiōmarauding, pillaging, sacking, plunderingēversiōexpulsion; destruction; revolutionexcidiumdemolition, destruction (especially military), ruin; massacre, slaughter, killingvāstitāswaste (empty place), desert; desolation, devastation, ruin, destruction; immensity, vastnessāviusremote, out of the way; astray, distractingorbitaa track or rut made in the ground by a wheel; an impression or mark resembling a rut; the path of a heavenly body, orbitviduitāswidowhood; bereavementsōlitūdōAn instance of being alone; loneliness, solitariness, solitude, privacy; A lonely place; desert, wilderness; A state of
The English word desolation itself goes back to Latin sōlus, through dēsōlātiō.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
desolation
Act of laying waste, etc., vastatio: populatio: depopulatio (plundering; e.g., agrorum, aedium sacrarum): eversio: excidium (overthrow of a town, etc.).
State of being desolate, vastitas.
Desolate place, locus desertus: locus vastus et desertus; solitudo vasta or avia; omnis humani cultus solitudo (Curt. 7, 3, 12).
State of being bereaved, afflicted, etc., orbitas (state of being bereaved; also figuratively; e.g., casum et orbitatem senatus, Cic.): viduitas (state of being widowed): solitudo (loneliness): (The words are found in this connection and order.) viduitas ac solitudo (e.g., qui jamdiu Caesenniae viduitate ac solitudine aleretur, Cic., Coecilius, 5, 13): viduitas omnium copiarum atque opum (Plaut., Rud. 3, 3, 2).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for desolation?
- The usual Latin words for “desolation” are vāstātiō, populātiō, dēpopulātiō; also ēversiō, excidium, vāstitās. 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.