| 释义 |
▪ I. elder, n.1|ˈɛldə(r)|
Forms: α. ellærn, ellæn, ellen, 2–4 ellarne, 4 ellerne, elrene, (5 elerne, elorne, ellern, elnerene 5, 9 dial. ellen), 4–7 eller, 4–6 eldre, 5 eldyr, (6 ellore), 6–7 eldren, eldern, 5 eller; β. 5 helren, hilder (-tre), hyldyr, hyllor, hillar, hillerne (-tre), hyl (-tre).
[With OE. ellærn (of which ellen is app. a reduced form, as ísen of ísern) cf. MLG. ellern, elderne, alhorn, elhorn (Schiller & Lübben), Flem. elhoren, alhoren (Kilian). Possibly an originally adjectival formation; cf. Ger. ahorn maple = L. acernus adj. (For the euphonic change of elr- to eldr- cf. alder1.) The forms with initial h seem to belong to a wholly different word, prob. of ON. origin; cf. Da. hyld, hyldetræ, Sw. hyll, app. related to the synonymous OHG. holuntar, MHG. holander, holder, mod.G. holunder, holder; in which a connexion of some kind with hole, hollow, is plausible, as the tree might naturally have been named from its tubular stems.]
1. A low tree or shrub, Sambucus nigra (family Caprifoliaceæ), called, for distinction, the Common or Black-berried Elder; bearing umbel-like corymbs of white flowers; the young branches are remarkable for their abundance of pith.
a700Epinal Gloss. 893 Sambucus, ellaen. a800Corpus Gloss. 1175 Sambucus, ellaern. c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 68 Wiþ fotece ᵹenim ellenes leaf. c1150Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 556 Sambucus, suew, ellarne. c1325Gloss. W. de Biblesw. in Wright Voc. 163 De suhen (hildertre, helren) font les souheaus. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 66 Iudas he Iapede with þe Iewes seluer And on an Ellerne treo [v.r. eldir; 1377 B. i. 68 eller] hongede him after. c1425in Voc. Wr.-Wülcker 646 Hec sambuca, hyllortre. c1440Promp. Parv., Eldyr or hyldyr, or hillerne tre [v.r. hillar; hyltre, or elerne; elder, or hyltre, or elorne]. a1450Alphita 161 Sambucus..ellen. 1471Ripley Comp. Alch. v. xlii. in Ashm. (1652) 158 Wene they..to have..of an Elder an Apple swete? 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §126 The stakes of the..ellore be good. 1598Shakes. Merry W. ii. iii. 30 My heart of Elder. 1608Plat Gard. Eden (1653) 100 Every plant of an Eldern will grow. 1615W. Lawson Orch. & Gard. (1648) 3 Some thinke the..eller [would have] a waterish marish. 1728Thomson Spring 443 Then seek the bank where flowering elders crowd. 1876Harley Mat. Med. 576 The Elder, indigenous in Europe, was known to the Greeks.
2. Extended to other species of the genus Sambucus; in N. America applied chiefly to S. canadensis. With distinguishing epithets: dwarf elder, ground elder, dog elder (S. Ebulus) = Danewort; wild elder, used by Lyte for S. racemosa.
1578Lyte Dodoens iii. xliv. 379 The nature and vertues of the wilde Eldren are as yet unknowen.
b. In popular names of other plants bearing a superficial resemblance to the elder: bishop's elder, dog elder, dwarf elder, ground elder, wild elder (cf. 2), names for Goutweed (ægopodium Podagraria); ground elder, Angelica silvestris; marsh or marish elder, water elder, white elder = guelder rose (Viburnum Opulus).
3. attrib., as elder-blossom, elder-branch, elder-bud, elder-bush, elder-flower, elder-pith, elder-stick, elder-tree, elder-vinegar, elder-wine, elder-wood; elder-leaved, adj.; elder-blow, elder-blossom; elder-gun, a pop-gun made of a hollow shoot of elder; elder-moth, Uropteryx Sambucata. Also elder-berry, etc.
1862Barnes Rhymes Dorset Dial. I. 76 A vield..Where *elder-blossoms be a-spread.
1875Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims, Poet. & Imag. Wks. (Bohn) III. 154 The scent of an *elder-blow..is event enough for him.
1579Spenser Shep. Cal. Nov. 147 The Muses..Now bringen bitter *Eldre braunches seare.
1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. i. v. 12 In the beginning of the spring..sallads are made of *eldern-buds.
1815Scott Guy M. i, A hut, or farmhouse..surrounded by large *elder-bushes.
1626Bacon Sylva §692 Of this kind are *Elder-flowers, which therefore are proper for the Stone. 1718Quincy Compl. Disp. 133 Elder-flowers..Flowers from May to July.
1599Shakes. Hen. V, iv. i. 210 That's a perilous shot out of an *Elder Gunne. a1613Overbury A Wife (1638) 201 As boyes doe Pellets in Elderne Guns.
1882Garden 23 Sept. 273/1 The *Elder-leaved or black Ash..the leaves of which..are serrated.
c1600J. Day Begg. Bednall Gr. iv. ii, Thou wither'd *Elder-pith.
1532More Confut. Tindale Wks. 425/1 No more then..thys greke woorde presbyteros signifyeth an *elder sticke.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. cxliv. (1495) 700 The *Ellern tree hath vertue Duretica. 1566Warde tr. Alexis' Secr. iii. i. 11 b, Foure vnces of the water of Elderne tree. 1712tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 32 The Arabian Costus is the Root of a Shrub very like an Elder Tree.
1709Steele Tatler No. 150 ⁋6 They had dissented..about the Preference of *Elder to Wine-Vinegar.
1735Berkeley Querist §151 Men of nice palates have been imposed on, by *elder wine for French claret.
1760T. Hutchinson Hist. Col. Mass. v. (1765) 464 A young stick of *elder wood.
¶4. Misused for alder1.
c1535G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 914 Thelder, aulne. 1611Florio Alno negro, the blacke Elder-tree.
▪ II. ˈelder, n.2 dial.
[cf. MDu. elder of same meaning; perh. repr. OTeut. *aliþro(m, f. *alan to nourish. (Not etymologically connected with udder.)]
The udder of a cow or mare.
1674Ray N.C. Wds. 17 The Elder: the Udder. 1679Plot Staffordsh. (1686) 262 Which was a yard and an inch high at 2 days old, and had..milk in its elder. 1797J. Downing Disord. Horned Cattle 87 The beast should be..milked quite clean out of the elder. 1875Lanc. Gloss. s.v. (E.D.S.) Hur [the cow's] elder's a bit sore. 1880G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Gloss. s.v. (E.D.S.) The mar'..wuz glad to see the cowt for 'er elder wuz as 'ard as a stwun.
▪ III. elder, a. and n.3|ˈɛldə(r)|
Forms: 1 (Mercian, Kent.) eldra, (Northumbrian, Mercian) ǣldra, (WSax.) ieldra, yldra, 2–3 eldere, eldre, ealdre, 3 eældre, ældre, elldre, eldore, ælder, 3–4 (heldre), uldre, ildre, 4 eilder, eldir, 5 elther, yelder, eelder, (Sc. 6 eldar, 8 ellar), 3– elder. See also alder, older, adjs.
[OE. ęldra (fem. and neut. ęldre) = OS. aldira, OFris. alder, elder, OHG. altiro, eltiro (mod.Ger. älter), ON. eldre, ellre (Da. ældre), Goth. alþiza:—OTeut. *ˈalþizon-, regularly f. *alđo-, OE. ald (WS. eald), old.
The late WS. form yldra survived in the south as uldre (ü), ildre until the 13th c.]
A. adj. The comparative degree of old a.; formerly equivalent to the mod. older, but now restricted to certain special uses.
1. That has lived or existed longer; senior, more advanced in age.
†a. Formerly used (both of persons and things) as a predicate; also as an attribute followed by than. Now superseded by older.
c1000Riddles xli. 42 (Gr.) Ic eom micle yldra, þonne ymbhwyrft þes. c1175Lamb. Hom. 23 A þet ic beo ealdre. c1200Moral Ode (Egerton MS.) 1 Ic æm elder þænne ic wæs, a winter and a lore. a1240Wohunge in Cott. Hom. 277 Swa þu eldere wex, swa þu pourere was. 1541Elyot Image Gov. 93 If she shall be as olde, or elder than I am. 1593Bilson Govt. Christ's Ch. 364 The lawes of forren countries are farre elder then ours. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 251 How much more elder art thou then thy lookes? a1639W. Whately Prototypes ii. xxxiv. (1640) 161 Friendship is like wine, the elder the better. 1673Cave Prim. Chr. i. vii. 203 A custom probably not much elder than his time.
b. as attribute without than. Not now used of things, except with quasi-personification. Now chiefly with ns. denoting family relationship, or as denoting the senior of two indicated persons; otherwise somewhat arch. Often with omission of n. implied in the context.
Beowulf 469 (Gr.) Wæs hereᵹar dead min yldra mæᵹ. c888K. ælfred Boeth. viii, Ic ðe ᵹeongne ᵹelærde swelce snytro swylce maneᵹum oþrum ieldran ᵹewittum oftoᵹen is. c975Durh. Gosp. Luke xv. 25 Wæs ða sunu his ældra on lond. 1279R. Glouc. (1724) 367 Margarete..Þe eldore of þe tuo, in spoushod he nome. a1300Cursor M. 3861 Þe eilder sister he for-sok. 1382Wyclif Luke xv. 25 Forsothe his eldere sone was in the feeld. c1450Merlin i. 5 The elther suster vndirstode hym wele. c1478Plumpton Corr. 38 The said Wil. Rycroft yelder. 1717Lady M. W. Montague Lett. II. xliv. 22 It is a great part of the work of the elder slaves to take care of these young girls. 1745Wesley Wks. (1872) VIII. 217 These are too young; send elder men. 1815Scott Ld. of Isles vi. xvi, Elder brother's care And elder brother's love were there. 1876Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xvii. 47 The Cathedral Church of the bishoprick whose throne is now hidden in the elder minster of Saint Fritheswyth.
c. elder statesman, in Japan, a member of the Genro; transf., a person of ripe years and experience whose counsel is therefore sought and valued.
1921Contemp. Rev. July 8 Prince Yamagata..continues the most influential member of the Genro, or Elder Statesmen. 192319th Cent. Jan. 138 The exclusive powers of the genro, or elder statesmen, are passing with the men themselves. 1932Fortune Sept. 100 This choice was exercised by the last of the genro, or ‘Elder Statesmen’, Prince Saionji, aged eighty-three. 1934Webster, Elder statesmen. a In Japan, an informal body (genro)... b Any similar class of persons. 1935G. Greene Bear fell Free, One should have made some prescient elder-statesman pronouncement. 1937John o' London's 15 Jan. 667 (heading) Balfour, the Elder Statesman. 1955H. Spring These Lovers fled Away ii. 61 When you are twelve, a boy of fifteen..seems almost an elder statesman. 1958Observer 19 Oct. 22/4 Professor Tawney is the elder statesman of English economic history. 1959T. S. Eliot Elder Statesman ii. 56 The difference between being an elder statesman And posing successfully as an elder statesman Is practically negligible.
†2.
a. Of an obligation, right, or title: Of longer standing, prior, that has superior validity.
b. Of officials, etc.: That ranks before others by virtue of longer service; senior. Obs.
(Elder Brethren: see brother 4 b.)
1642tr. Perkins' Prof. Bk. iv. §285 If the possession bee not devested out of them by an elder title. 1594West Symbol. ii. Chancerie §139 It cannot be intended that..he would have left the elder bond..unsued for. 1721–1800Bailey, Elder Battalion, that Battalion which was first raised, and has the post of honour according to its standing. Elder Officers, such officers whose Commissions bear the eldest Date.
†3. elder man: = elder n., in senses B. 2, 3. Sometimes written as one word elderman. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 5784 (Cotton MS.) Ga gedir samen þin eldir men. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 41 Þe senatoures and elder men of Rome. c1400Apol. Loll. 2 Jerom, & Gregor take a wey þe name of þe bischop, or heldarman. 1530Compend. Treat. (1863) 51 The prophet Moses hadde chosen seuenty eldermen. 1708Motteux Rabelais iv. xxv, So they call'd their eldest Elderman.
4. In Card-playing. elder hand: the first player. Cf. eldest 5.
1589Pappe w. Hatchet C iiij, The poore Church should play at vnequal game, for it should loose al by the Elder hand. 1746Hoyle Whist (ed. 6) 22 You are elder Hand. 1873Cavendish [H. Jones] Piquet 29 The pack is then cut by the non-dealer, or elder hand.
†5. Of or pertaining to a more advanced period of life; later. Obs.
(In this sense elder days are the opposite of the elder days of sense 6, just as an older portrait has a younger face.)
1593Shakes. Rich. II, ii. iii. 43, I tender you my seruice raw and young; Which elder dayes shall ripen. 1611― Cymb. v. i. 14 To second illes with illes, each elder worse. 1737Whiston Josephus' Ant. xvi. xi. 8 He also was guilty of..a crime in his elder age.
6. a. That existed at a previous time; ancient, earlier, former. b. Of or pertaining to ancient times or to an earlier period.
c1340Cursor M. App. i. p. 1636. 23876 We..in eldern men vr mirur se. c1449Pecock Repr. ii. x. 202 In eeldir daies, whanne processioun was mad. 1587Mirr. Mag., Induction xii. 7 What thinges were done, in elder times of olde. 1668Hale Pref. Rolle's Abridgm. 8 Many of the Elder Year-Books are Filled with Law, now not so much in use. 1801Southey Thalaba ix. ix, Huge as the giant race of elder times. 1823Lamb Elia Ser. ii. i. (1865) 242 Curiosity prevailing over elder devotion. 1852C. M. Yonge Cameos I. Introd. 2 The elder England has been so fully written of. 1867Macfarren Harmony ii. 35 Modern writers..may produce compositions in the elder style.
7. Comb. as elder-born adj.; elder-brotherhood, the state or dignity of an elder brother; elder-brotherly, -sisterly a., pertaining or proper to an elder brother or sister.
1870Bryant Iliad II. xv. 81 *Elder-born am I.
1884in Littell's Living Age No. 2077. 66 Its *elder-brotherhood Writ on the face of its perfected plan.
1823Bentham Not Paul 370 note, This..assumed fatherly affection, under the name of *elder-brotherly..what was it?
1870M. Bridgman R. Lynne II. viii. 163 ‘So I told them’, said Fanny, with a demure, *elder-sisterly air.
B. n. An elder person, lit. and fig.
†1.
a. A parent [cf. mod.G. eltern pl.]; an ancestor, forefather; hence, in wider sense, a predecessor, one who lived in former days. Almost exclusively in pl. Obs.
971Blickl. Hom. 195 Ure yldran swultan and swiþe oft us from wendan. a1000Elene 462 (Gr.) Þa me yldra min ageaf andsware. a1067Chart. Eadweard in Cod. Dipl. IV. 167 For mines fader and for allra minra yldrena sawlan. c1175Lamb. Hom. 123 Helle..we weren in bifolen þurh ure eldra gult. c1205Lay. 7290 Þet me mine ældre [1275 eldre] dude scome. c1230Hali Meid. 27 Feire children..gladien muchel þe ealdren. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 11 Here elderne..were y nome in ostage Fram the bataile of Troie. c1325Metr. Hom. 109 Underlout till thaim was he, Als god child au til elderes be. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 419 Þat agag of amalek · and al hus lyge puple Sholde deye delfulliche · for dedes of here eldren. c1440York Myst. xxvii. 14 That with oure elthers euer has bene. 1513Douglas æneis vii. iv. 44 And sett himselfe amyde his elderis trone. 1535Coverdale John ix. 18 They called the elders of him that had receaued his sight. 1557N. T. (Genev.) 2 Tim. i. 3, I thanke God, whome I serue from myne elders with pure conscience.
†b. transf. (see quot.) Obs.
1719London & Wise Compl. Gard. vi. 115 Some [branches] shoot directly out of the main Body..and may be called Elders, or Mothers.
2. a. (A person's) superior in age, senior. Almost exclusively in pl.
c1000Ormin 13215 He þatt iss þin elldre. c1340Cursor M. 12092 To his eldre worship drawe. c1420Pallad. on Husb. i. 125 That yonger men obeye unto thaire eldron. 1552Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 36 Ic haif had..understanding aboue my eldaris. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. 7 So well I know my duty to my elders. 1737Pope Hor. Epist. ii. i. 117 If our elders break all reason's laws. 1801Med. Jrnl. V. 411, I..leave my elders to judge of them. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 47 The child..undoubtingly listens to..his elders. 1864Tennyson En. Ard. 375.
b. A person advanced in life.
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 281 The wither'd Elder hath his Poll claw'd like a Parrot. a1643G. Sandys (J.) From their seats the reverend elders rose. 1884Illust. Lond. News 20 Sept. 268/12 The three elders, his companions in this terrible adventure, are now brought home.
3. A member of a ‘senate’, governing body or class, consisting of men venerable for age, or conventionally supposed to be so. Now chiefly Hist.
Orig. as transl. of the seniores of the Vulgate, rendering the Heb. z'qēnīm (lit. ‘old men’). Cf. the equivalent Gr. γέροντες.
1382Wyclif Deut. xix. 12 The aldren [MS. C. elderes; 1388 eldere men] of that citee shulen seende. 1535Coverdale Susanna 50 The elders (that is the principall heades) sayde. ― 1 Macc. xi. 31 The lettre which we dyd wryte vnto oure elder Lasthenus. 1607Shakes. Cor. i. i. 230 See our best Elders. 1611Bible Ruth iv. 9 Boaz saide vnto the Elders, and vnto all the people. 1715–20Pope Iliad xviii. 586 The reverend elders nodded o'er the case. 1815Elphinstone Acc. Caubul (1842) I. 221 To which the chief and elders always lend their weight. 1870Gladstone Prim. Homer (1878) 116 They bear the general appellation of gerontes, elders, as well as kings.
4. a. In ecclesiastical use. A literal rendering of Gr. πρεσβύτερος, the title given to a certain order or class of office-bearers in the early Christian Church. The Gr. word was adopted in ecclesiastical Latin as presbyter, and its historical representative in Eng. is priest. In certain Protestant churches, chiefly those called Presbyterian, the Eng. word elder (with presbyter as an occasional synonym) is used as the designation of a class of officers intended to correspond in function to the ‘elders’ of the apostolic church.
In the Presbyterian churches the term elders includes the clergy (for distinction called ‘teaching elders’), but in ordinary language it is restricted to the lay or ruling elders, who are chosen in each parish or congregation to act with the minister in the management of church affairs.
[1382Wyclif Acts xv. 6 And apostlis and eldre men camen to gidere.] 1526Tindale Titus i. 5 That thou..shuldest ordeyne elders [Wyclif, preestis] in every citie. 1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 237/2 Seing y⊇ Church is compared to a flocke..the word shepeherde signifieth an Elder, not by age, but by office. 1651Hobbes Leviath. iii. xlii. 289 Timothy was an Elder. 1719D'Urfey Pills (1872) II. 288 When their Bishops are pulled down, Our Elders shall be sainted. 1760T. Hutchinson Hist. Col. Mass. iv. (1765) 426 Most of the churches..had one or more ruling elder. 1794Burns, Robin shure in hairst, Robin..Play'd me sic a trick, And me the eller's dochter. 1846McCulloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) II. 285 The Kirk Session is..composed of the minister of the parish and of lay-elders. New elders are chosen by the Session. 1858Longfellow M. Standish 31 The excellent Elder of Plymouth.
b. An order of priests in the Catholic Apostolic Church.
1828E. Irving Sermons I. p. xxiii, These Sermons on the Incarnation..you received with all acceptation; and the Elders whom God hath set over you made choice of them to stand first in these volumes. 1876Encycl. Brit. V. 238/1 Four-and-twenty priests, divided into the four ministries of ‘elders, prophets, evangelists, and pastors’... The understanding is that each elder, with his co-presbyters and deacons, shall have charge of 500 adult communicants in his district.
c. A minister of any denomination. U.S. local.
1792in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. II. 30 In the year 1673 settlers..employed one Elder Jones as their preacher. 1851Advent Rev. & Sabbath Herald 21 July 3/3 Elder Jesse Thompson and his companion [wife], (at whose table we are now writing,) were of this number. 1874B. F. Taylor World on Wheels i. xix. 140 Take a young fellow from Hamilton or Rochester..and call him Elder, as his country brethren and sisters always will. 1921R. M. Jones Later Periods Quakerism I. iv. 120 Even now in the rural districts of New England a minister of any denomination is called ‘Elder’. 1925Z. A. Tilghman Dugout 7, I can remember some of the elder's sermon that day.
d. Quakerism. An officer of the Society of Friends appointed by a monthly meeting and responsible for the organization and proper conduct of meetings held within the jurisdiction of the monthly meeting.
1703Yearly Meeting Epistle (Friends House) 1 We..tenderly Recommend unto Faithful Friends, and Elders especially, to Watch over the Flock of Christ. 1789Yearly Meeting Minutes (Friends House) XVIII. 527 This Committee is of the Judgment that the offices of Elder & Overseer are distinct. a1847in W. & T. Evans Friends' Library XI. 425/2 This Epistle [of 31 Mar. 1672] seems to be specially addressed to Ministers, and those filling the responsible station of overseers of the flock; the duties subsequently assigned to Elders, probably devolved at this time, on the faithful, perhaps in both the stations above mentioned, but..especially on overseers. 1917E. Grubb What is Quakerism? v. 99 The principal offices in the Society of Friends are those of Overseer and Elder. These officers are appointed, triennially, by the Monthly Meetings... The main work of the Elders is to foster more directly the spiritual life of the congregations, specially in regard to the vocal ministry. 1921, etc. [see overseer n. 1 e]. 1974G. Hubbard Quaker by Convincement iv. iii. 209 The whole concept of Elders and Overseers is that the functions of spiritual and material caring which would elsewhere devolve on a professional pastor should be carried by lay members. 1983Milligan & Thomas My Ancestors were Quakers 14 The word ‘elder’ appears in Quaker documents from commonwealth days..here it means a seasoned Friend... The specific appointment by monthly meetings of elders ‘to counsel ministers’ belongs to the first half of the 18th century.
5. Comb., as elder-like adv.
1640Witt's Recreat. in Southey Comm.-Pl. Bk. Ser. ii. 314 Now most Elder-like he can Behave himself. 1795Southey Joan of Arc iii. 542 Fathers of the church..what! elder-like Would ye this fairer than Susannah eye?
▪ IV. ˈelder, v.
[f. prec.]
1. trans. to elder it: to play the elder (brother or sister). nonce-wd.
1855Chamb. Jrnl. III. 243 She elders it with such tender protection over the little sister.
2. intr. To become older, to begin to show age. So ˈeldering ppl. a. poet. and colloq.
1876G. M. Hopkins Wr. Deutschland (1918) st. 18 Never-eldering revel and river of youth. 1885S. W. Mitchell In War Time xii. 186 Before she went away she was what my nurse used to call ‘eldering’. 1949O. Nash Versus 121 In my eldering age.
Add:3. trans. Of an elder in the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers): to admonish (a Friend, esp. for inappropriate behaviour).
[1912: see *eldering vbl. n. below.] 1967A. S. Byatt Game xi. 158 He apparently brought them to Meeting, and then stood up and talked for forty-five minutes... If he'd been anyone else, he'd have been eldered after fifteen minutes. 1978Church Times 6 Jan. 8/2 At a recent Quaker meeting we were all told not to clap, and not long ago an acquaintance of mine was mildly ‘eldered’ in a friendly way for sitting with his legs crossed. 1987A. Heron Gifts & Ministries 8 The use of the expressions ‘eldering’ and ‘to elder’..sometimes diverts attention from the principally positive aspects of eldership.
eldering ppl. a.: also (in sense *3) vbl. n.
1912Friends' Q. Examiner XLVI. 322 The following notes are interesting as illustrating some forms of eldering prevalent in those early days. 1955M. H. Jones Rufus M. Jones ii. 18 A Friend took him aside..and told him, ‘Thou shouldst not have been thinking.’ The young visitor took this in good grace..but it might have wrecked his ministry, for such an eldering in such a place was a serious matter. 1986Friends' Q. XXIV. 165 The Earlham School of Religion and the Quaker Hill Conference Center..have sponsored a series of annual Consultations on..: eldering, discernment,..accountability.
▪ V. elder
dial. form of helder, rather.
1857E. Waugh Lanc. Sk. 26 in Lanc. Gloss. (E.D.S.) One could elther manage we't at th' for-end o' their days. 1874Manch. Critic 21 Feb. ibid., I'd elder see 'em wortchin for th' next to nought nor see 'em doin nought. |