from dev a status

of devas to.] I. Ordinary Language: 1. The act of devastating, laying waste, or plun dering a country. "By devastation the rough warrior gains, And farmers fatten most when famine reigns." Garth: Dispensary , ii. 65, 66. 2. The state of being devastated or laid waste; desolation. "That flood which overflowed Attica, in the days of Ogyges, made cruel havoc and devastation among them." -Woodward . II. Law : The waste of the goods of a deceased person by the executor or administrator.