* A “desolate region” refers to an area of land where few people live because few crops or other vegetation grow there.
* A “desolate land” or “wilderness” was often where outcasts (such as lepers) and dangerous animals lived.
* If a city is “made desolate” it means that its buildings and goods have been destroyed or stolen, and its people have been killed or captured. The city becomes “empty” and “ruined.” This is similar to the meaning of “devastate” or “devastated,” but with more emphasis on the emptiness.
* Depending on the context, this term could be translated as “ruined” or “destroyed” or “laid waste” or “lonely and outcast” or “deserted.”