A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2002 (DOST Vol. XII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1572
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(Wastnes,) Waistnes, n. [ME and e.m.E. wastnesse (Wyclif), waistnesse (1535).] A wilderness, an uninhabited area. — 1572 Buch. Detect. (1727) 68.
Was not that desolate waistnes [L. illa deserta vastitas], that unhantit place, abill of itself to put simpill men in feir?
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"Wastnes n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 17 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/wastnes>
