Middle English Dictionary Entry
desolāt(e adj.
Entry Info
| Forms | desolāt(e adj. Also dis(s)olat. |
| Etymology | L dēsōlātus ppl. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
Of a country, city, dwelling, etc.: (a) deserted, uninhabited; ~ of, abandoned by; (b) devastated, ruined; (c) as noun: a wilderness.
Associated quotations
a
- (c1384) WBible(1) (Dc 369(2))Luke 11.17 : Euery rewme departide aȝens it silf schal be desolat [L desolabitur].
- c1425(a1420) Lydg.TB (Aug A.4)4.993 : Oure riche tounes, Whiche by oure absence stond desolat.
- a1425(c1385) Chaucer TC (Benson-Robinson)5.540 : O paleys desolat..O paleys empty and disconsolat.
- (1433) RParl.4.425b : In partie of relefe..of the poure Tounes, Citees and Burghes, desolate, wastud or destrued.
- (1449) RParl.5.144a : In relief and comforte of pouer Townes desolate, wastud and destroied.
- c1450 Capgr.Rome (Bod 423)20 : Grete uoutes..in whech seyntis dwellid sumtyme, but now be þei desolate.
- (a1460) Vegetius(2) (Pmb-C 243)2557 : Prevely they rise in sum tauerne Or desolat hous, so noo wight hem werne.
- -?-(1450) Pet.Hen.VI in Archaeol.191 : Your said citee is desolate of peple.
b
- a1450(?c1421) Lydg.ST (Arun 119)4692 : The violence..of werre..makeþ londys bare and desolat.
- a1425(c1395) WBible(2) (Roy 1.C.8)Ezek.30.7 : In the myddis of londis maad desolat [L terrarum desolatarum].
- a1425 Methodius(1) (Hrl 1900)101/6 : Þei bigunne to make citees desolate.
- c1450(c1375) Chaucer Anel.(Benson-Robinson)62 : So desolat stod Thebes and so bare, That no wight coude remedie of his care.
- c1450 Capgr.St.Kath.(Arun 396)1.849 : The lawes arn not kepte, the lond is desolate.
c
- c1450(?a1400) Wars Alex.(Ashm 44)4354 : In disolatis, in dennes & in cauys.
2.
Misc. uses: (a) vacant (throne); ~ of, lacking in (sth.); (b) faced with ruin; (c) of a cloud: gloomy, dark.
Associated quotations
a
- (a1393) Gower CA (Frf 3)2.2651 : The lordes, whiche as wolden save The Regne which was desolat..A parlement thei sette anon.
- c1425(a1420) Lydg.TB (Aug A.4)2.7411 : Þis litel regioun, Whiche lik is to stonde dissolat Of gouernaunce and disconsolat.
- c1460(a1449) Lydg.2 Merch.(Hrl 2255)22 : This lond is desolat Of cloude and reynes..But yeer by yeer the soil is irrigat..with the fflood of Nyle.
b
- (1429) RParl.4.359a : Your mynte at Caleis is like to stande voide, dissolate, and be distrued..but if remedie be purveid.
- c1450(a1400) Orolog.Sap.(Dc 114)388/6 : Þat oure lorde god..mercyfully helpe and socoure holy chirche, in late tyme desolate, & þat hee put hit into pees.
c
- (c1443) Pecock Rule (Mrg M 519)31 : Y se..persoonys ful comely and faire, as it were out from derkenes or a desolate cloude forþ going.
3.
Of persons: (a) left to oneself, deserted, lonely; ~ from, separated or apart from (sb.); stonden ~, to stand apart, be at odds; holden ~, keep (sb.) at a distance, segregate; (b) lacking, deprived, destitute; ~ of (sth.); ~ of helpe, helpless; (c) distressed, disconsolate, wretched, miserable.
Associated quotations
a
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.Pard.(Manly-Rickert)C.598 : It is repreue..For to ben holde a commune hasardour; And euere the hyer he is of estaat, The moore is he holden desolat.
- (c1395) Chaucer CT.Mch.(Manly-Rickert)E.1321 : He which that hath no wyf, I holde hym shent; He lyueth helplees and al desolat.
- c1400 Bible SNT(1) (Selw 108 L.1)1 Thes.2.17 : Breþeren, we þat ben desolat from ȝou [L desolati a nobis]..in byholdynge, & noȝt in herte.
- a1456(1429) Lydg.Hen.VI Coron.Ballade (Trin-C R.3.20)142 : Voyde þy reaume frome discencyoun..Folkes recounsyle þat stonde desolate.
- c1430(c1386) Chaucer LGW (Benson-Robinson)1279 : He was in peril for to sterve For hunger..And desolat, and fled from his cuntre.
- c1475(c1450) Idley Instr.(Cmb Ee.4.37)2.A.780 : If þou wrathe oure lady..Then art þou of counceill al bare and naked..ffro al the seyntes þou stondest desolate.
- a1500(?c1450) Merlin (Cmb Ff.3.11)596 : Many a gentill lady be lefte wedowe, and many a gentill mayden dysolat.
b
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.ML.(Manly-Rickert)B.131 : I were right now of tales desolat, Nere that a marchaunt..Me taughte a tale.
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.ML.(Manly-Rickert)B.936 : How myhgte Dauid make thee so maat, So yong and of armure so desolat?
- (c1395) Chaucer CT.WB.(Manly-Rickert)D.703 : Mercurie is desolat In Pisces, wher Venus is exaltat.
- a1475(1430) Lydg.St.Marg.(Dur-U Cosin V.2.14)528 : Folkes alle that be disconsolat..And alle that stonde of helpe desolate.
- 1543(1464) Hardyng Chron.B (Grafton)p.422 : Hardyng..All destitute of language and science, And desolate of rethoryke eloquence.
c
- c1390(?c1350) SVrn.Leg.Barlaam (Vrn)218/268 : His herte was desolat.
- c1425(a1420) Lydg.TB (Aug A.4)4.4532 : A regne in hit silfe deuided Shal recurles tourne..And þe dwellers desolat.
- (?c1422) Hoccl.ASM (Dur-U Cosin V.3.9)500 : Do to thy wrecchid soule help and socour, Þat is al desolat.
- c1425(c1400) Primer (Cmb Dd.11.82)p.20 : What schal be ȝouun..to a gileful tunge? Scharpe arowis..þat maken desolat.
- c1425 Found.St.Barth.15/36 : He wolde opyn the bosumme of his pite to them that were desolate.
- c1450(a1400) Orolog.Sap.(Dc 114)351/43 : A wrecchid man þat is turmentid and desolate.
- (a1464) Capgr.Chron.(Cmb Gg.4.12)252 : Oure Lord..nevir forsakith hem that be desolat.
- c1475(a1449) Lydg.Prayer Leonard (LdMisc 683)3 : Fader off pyte and consolacyoun, Callid recomfort to folk desolat.
- c1475 O man thow (Hrl 2251)29 : Who fedde v thousand desolate With lovis v and fisshes twoo?
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.Pard.(Manly-Rickert)C.598 : It is repreue and contrarie of honour For to ben holde a commune hasardour, And euere the hyer he is of estaat, The moore is he holden desolat : If that a prynce vseth hasardrye..He is .. yholde the lasse in reputacioun.
- a1475 GLeg.Suppl.Aug.Cant.2 (Lamb 72)375/246 : There was a yonge man that was bothe lame, defe and dombe, and by þe prayers of Seynt Austyn he was made alle hoole, and after that he wax ful desolate and wantone of his speche and he infect the peple with iangelynge in the chirche and talkynge.
- a1500 GLeg.Suppl.Theol.Misc. (Add 35298)92/182 : The awbe betokenyth the verry clennes that shulde be in a preest and that he shulde not be desolate of his levyng.
Note: A possible new sense may be based on the three quots. collected here, all of which either likely or surely require a meaning of morally iniquitous, and therefore possibly reflect some confusion with dissolute adj. 1.(c). The GLeg. glossary suggests 'religiously or morally lax' for the GLeg.Suppl.Theol.Misc. quot., 'unruly, unrestrained' for the GLeg.Suppl.Aug.Cant.2 quot. The Chaucer quot. has been glossed variously (and with varying degrees of ambiguity), as editors attempt to bridge the semantic gap between 'desolate (abandoned in the sense of alone, shunned)' and 'dissolute (abandoned in the sense of licentious)'. Hence OED (desolate, adj. and n., sense 8): "destitute of good quality, evil, abandoned"; John Manly: "lost to shame"; Carleton Brown: "abandoned"; W.W. Skeat: "shunned"; Larry Benson: "wretched"; Norman Davis: "base, vile." Development along the lines of 'egregious', i.e. from 'standing alone' to 'exceptionally bad' is not impossible.