ἐρημώσεως” [3 verses](noun sg fem gen) "Desolation" is erêmôsis, which means "making desolate." It is from erêmoô, which means "to strip bare," "desolate," "to lay waste," "to abandon," "to desert" "to bereave," and "to be left without." The Hebrew source is shamem, which means "to be desolate," "to stun," "to be appalled," "to devastate," "to ravage," "to cause horror," and "to cause oneself ruin." Christ uses the noun form, eremos, that is translated as "desert" or "wilderness."