eldernadj.¹

/ˈɛldən/

Forms: Also Middle English ( Orm.) elldern, eldrin, 1600s–1700s Scottish eldren, 1700s elderin.

Etymology: < elder adj. + -en suffix⁴. In quot. 1840 at sense 2 probably a new formation.

†1. Elderly. Obsolete exc. Scottish.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > source or principle of life > age > old age > [adjective] > old (of beings, etc.)

oldeOE

winteredeOE

oldlyOE

over-oldOE

eldernc1175

at-oldc1200

stricken on, in age, in eldec1380

oldlya1382

(well, far, etc.) stepped in age, in or into yearsc1386

ancientc1400

aged1420

well-agedc1450

ripec1480

passing oldc1485

(well) shot in years1530

old aged1535

agey1547

Ogygian1567

strucken1576

oldish1580

stricken in yearsa1586

declined1591

far1591

struck1597

Nestorian1605

overripe1605

elderly1611

eld1619

antiquated1631

enaged1631

thorough-old1639

emerita1643

grandevous1647

magnaevous1727

badgerly1753

(as) old as the hills1819

olden days1823

crusted1833

long in the tooth1841

oldened1854

mature1867

over the hill1950

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1235. Oxe ganngeþþ haȝheliȝ & aldelike lateþþ..& shæwenn..Ellderrne manness late.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1213 Ȝiff þu..hafesst ȝet tohh þu be ȝung. Ellderrne manness late.

1608 T. Hudson tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Ivdith iv. 59 in J. Sylvester Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) The tree that bends his eldren braunch That way where first the stroke hath made him launch.

1739 A. Nicol Poems 73 (Jam.) The eldern men sat down their lane, To wet their throats within.

1768 A. Ross Fortunate Shepherdess 68 (Jam.) Colin and Lindy..The ane an elderin man, the niest a lad.

1790 A. Wilson Poems 205 Aneath some spreadan eldren thorn.

1817 W. Scott Rob Roy III. vii. 187 His Excellency is a thought eldern.

2. Old, belonging to earlier times. archaic.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > relative time > the past > [adjective]

formerc1160

apassedc1314

past1340

preterite1340

eldera1400

elderna1400

eldernlya1400

bygone1424

bypast1452

ancient1490

by-runa1522

bywenta1522

spent1528

departed1552

forepassed1557

preter1578

by-come1592

worn-out1594

preterlapsed1599

foregone1609

worna1616

elapseda1644

lapsed1702

surpassed1725

gone-by1758

back1808

old-time1865

by-flown1884

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 18016 Mine eldrin folk of iuen lede Haue i [Satan] done rise againes him.

a1400 [see eldernly adv. at Derivatives].

1840 G. Darley in Wks. of Beaumont & Fletcher I. Introd. p. xxx Our eldern dramatist was a decided poet, which our modern was not.

Derivatives

† ˈeldernly adv. [see -ly suffix²] Obsolete of old time.

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