elder
Meaningolder
Common meaning: older
Other meanings: an older person
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- elderolder (from eald, old)Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), p. 187 · scan
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Pronunciation note: the UK form is converted from the US form by rule and is unchecked. This is separate from the origin confidence below.
Origin confidence: High
How sure we are of this word’s origin, worked out from the sources on this page. It is not a guarantee.
- Skeat (1898) entry confirmed, scan linked
- Every root links to a dictionary scan
- All 2 history stages have a source link
- 2 distinct public-domain books cited
High: Skeat (1898) has an entry for this word and every root and history stage is linked to a source. Medium: something is missing or indirect, such as the entry being under a related word. Low: not in Skeat and only one book, or a root without a scan.
Origin: Built on Old English yldra ‘older (from eald, old)’.
Source words
- yldra Old English · source word “older (from eald, old)”
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app