des·o·late • adj. / ˈdesəlit/ (of a place) deserted of people and in a state of bleak and dismal emptiness: a desolate moor. ∎  feeling or showing misery, unhappiness, or loneliness: I suddenly felt desolate and bereft.• v. / ˈdesəˌlāt/ [tr.] make (a place) bleakly and depressingly empty or bare: the droughts that desolated the dry plains. ∎  (usu. be desolated) make (someone) feel utterly wretched and unhappy: he was desolated by the deaths of his treasured friends.DERIVATIVES: des·o·late·ly adv.des·o·late·ness / -litnis/ n.des·o·la·tor / -ˌlātər/ n.

desolate left alone; deserted XIV; destitute of life, joy, or comfort XV. — L. dēsōlātus, pp. of dēsōlāre abandon, f. DE- 3 + sōlus alone, SOLE 2; see -ATE 2.
So desolation XIV. — late L. or partly through (O)F.