Even Latin must be left in order to find the etymological origin of the term devastation that now concerns us. And it is that it emanates from the word “devastatio”, which is the result of the sum of several components:
- The prefix “de-“, which indicates “distance”.
- The verb “vastare”, which can be translated as “to be empty”.
- The suffix “-cion”, which is used to indicate action and effect.
Devastation is the action and effect of devastating. This verb refers to destroy or reduce something to pieces. The most common use of the concept is associated with the destruction of a territory, which destroys its land and buildings. See Abbreviation Finder for acronyms related to Devastation.
For example: “After the tsunami, the devastation of the coastal region was total”, “The governor called on the population to work together to rebuild the town after the devastation”, “I will never be able to support a government that ordered the devastation from a neighboring country for ethnic reasons.
Devastation can occur for a variety of reasons. Various natural phenomena, such as an earthquake, a tsunami, a volcanic eruption or a flood, can devastate a territory and generate from millionaire material losses to the death of a large number of people.
Cities that are located in areas that tend to suffer natural disasters have special protections and emergency mechanisms to act in the event of any phenomenon. All that man can do, however, may not be enough to prevent devastation, as was the case with the 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan.
Importantly, the devastation can also be caused by humans. The nuclear bombs dropped by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 are proof of this.
Likewise, there is currently a great concern about what has been called ecological devastation. As its name indicates, this term is used to refer to all the actions that are taking place on the Planet to the detriment of its environment. In this sense, the human being is ultimately responsible for the damage that is being caused in Nature due to the various actions that he undertakes and that translate into high levels of pollution.
It should be emphasized that from the point of view of history there is an event that receives the name of Devastations of Osorio. Specifically, it is an order given by the Spanish King Felipe III to Antonio de Osorio so that he, as Governor of Hispaniola, would put an end to smuggling. Specifically, he asked her to depopulate the western part of the island and bring the population as close as possible to Santo Domingo.
The reason that the monarch decided to take measures to put an end to smuggling was that it came to reduce the benefits that the Crown obtained from commercial transactions, let’s say “legal”.
Devastation, finally, is the name of a female comic book villain created by Eric Luke for DC Comics. This character was confronted by Wonder Woman, who is her half-sister.
