Quick Definition
ἐρημία, ας, ἡ n.f. a desert place
Strong's Definition
from 2048; solitude (concretely)
KJV Usage: desert, wilderness
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, f. | -ας | ἐρημόομαι
1.86 · Geographical Objects and Features · Areas Which Are Uninhabited or Only Sparsely Populated
desert, wilderness, lonely place a largely uninhabited region, normally with sparse vegetation (in contrast with πόλις[a] ‘a population center,’ 1.88) The phrase ἄνυδρος τόπος (MAT 12:43, LUK 11:24), literally ‘waterless place,’ is a set phrase equivalent to ἐρημία and may be translated as ‘wilderness’ or ‘uninhabited country.’
Throughout the NT ἐρημία and ἔρημος[b] focus primarily upon the lack of population rather than upon sparse vegetation, though the two features are closely related ecologically in the Middle East.
In most languages the most satisfactory equivalent of ἐρημία and ἔρημος[b] is a word or phrase suggesting a place where few if any people live. Such expressions are generally far better than a word meaning ‘a bare place’ or ‘a place of sand,’ since in some languages such expressions could mean only a clearing in the forest or a sandy beach along a river bank. In the case of translations being made for people living in jungle areas, it may, however, be necessary to describe in a footnote the nature of an ἐρημία in NT times.
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
ἐρημία, -as, 7, (ἔρημος). a solitude, an uninhabited region, a waste: Mt. xv. 33; Mk. viii.4; Heb. xi. 38; opp. to πόλις, 2 Co. xi. 26, as in Joseph. antt. 2, 3, 1.
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
ἐρημία erēmia 4x
a solitude, uninhabited region, waste, desert, Mt. 15:33; Mk. 8:4; 2 Cor. 11:26; Heb. 11:38*
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
ἐρημία, -ας, ἡ
(< ἔρημος), [in LXX: Is 60:20, Ez 35:4 (חָרֵב, חׇרְבָּה), ib. 35:9 (שִׁמֲמָה), Wi 17:17, Si 47:17, Ba 4:33, IV Mac 18:8 * ;]
a solitude, wilderness: Mt 15:33, Mk 8:4, II Co 11:26, He 11:38.†
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
ἐρημία (erēmia) — desert. ἐρημ-ία, ἡ,
I. of places, a solitude, desert, wilderness, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἕρπει εἰς τὰς ἐρημίας to solitary places, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
II. as a state or condition, solitude, loneliness, ἐρημίαν ἄγειν, to keep alone, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of persons, isolation, destitution, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; δι᾽ ἐρημίαν from being left alone, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
II. b of places, desolation, ἐρημίᾳ δοῦναί τι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐρημία..πόλιν ὅταν λάβῃ[Refs 5th c.BC+]
II.2. with genitive, want of, absence, φίλων [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀρσένων, βροτῶν, ἀνδρῶν, [Refs 5th c.BC+], etc.; δι᾽ ἐρημίας πολεμίων πορευόμενος without finding any enemy, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὴν ἐ. τῶν κωλυσόντων ὁρῶν seeing that there would be none to hinder him, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἐ. σώματος, ={κενόν}, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; even ἐ. κακῶν freedom from evil, [Refs 5th c.BC+]