elderdom
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English *elderdom, alderdom, from Old English ealdordōm (“greatness, power, authority, lordship, eldership, rule, dominion, magistracy, principality, superiority, preeminence, primacy, government, any official position involving command of others, beginning”), equivalent to elder + -dom. Cognate with West Frisian âlderdom (“eld, old age, antiquity”), Swedish ålderdom (“eld, age”).
Noun edit
elderdom (uncountable)
- Authority; dominion.
- 1852, Alfred (King of England), The whole works of King Alfred the Great:
- Both of these things Moses fulfilled, when he refused elderdom or authority, [...]
- Preeminence; superiority.
- 1773, Paulus Orosius, Daines Barrington, The Anglo-Saxon version:
- The name of one of these was Claudius, who arrogated to himself elderdom over the others, though they by no means allowed his claim of superiority, hut quarrelled with him.
- The authority, rule, or office of an elder.
- 2005, Philip Sheldrake, The new Westminster dictionary of Christian spirituality:
- Hence the popular belief that elderdom was most of all at home on Russian soil.
- The state of being an elder, or of being older; elderhood.
- 2010, Janis Abrahms Spring, Ph.D., Janis Abrahms Spring, Michael Spring, Life with Pop: Lessons on Caring for an Aging Parent:
- Thanks to him, I have a better sense of what it takes to morph gracefully into elderdom.
- 2010, Janis Abrahms Spring, Ph.D., Janis Abrahms Spring, Michael Spring, Life with Pop: Lessons on Caring for an Aging Parent:
- The role or influence of an elder or elders.
- 2005, Hortense Calisher, Tattoo for a Slave:
- The weight of elderdom in our family was like a drapery to be taken for granted. In which anyone could at times gratefully hide.