Over time, the word “devastate” has been employed in literature to evoke images of complete ruin and irreversible destruction. For instance, in the Old English epic Beowulf, it is used in a moral context, referring to the prohibition against desecrating a hall due to divine mandate [1]. In classical texts like Plato’s Republic, the term underscores a legal prohibition against ravaging lands or burning houses, emphasizing both social order and restraint [2][3][4]. Thucydides further employs “devastate” to dramatize the overwhelming force of an invading enemy intent on laying waste to foreign territories [5]. Later, H. G. Wells extends the term’s metaphorical reach by imagining even the tiniest particles multiplying to the point of obliterating a whole city, while Benito Pérez Galdós lists it among synonyms for utter ruin [6][7]. This evolution in usage illustrates how “devastate” has maintained its core connotation of profound destruction while adapting to various narrative and thematic needs over the centuries.