old

See also öld, and øld

English

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Etymology

From Middle English old, ald, from Old English ald, eald (“old, aged, ancient, antique, primeval”), from Proto-Germanic *aldaz (“grown-up”), originally a participle form from Proto-Indo-European *altós (“grown, tall, big”). Cognate with Scots auld (“old”), North Frisian ool, ual, uul (“old”), Saterland Frisian oold (“old”), West Frisian âld (“old”), Dutch oud (“old”), Low German old (“old”), German alt (“old”), Swedish äldre (“older, elder”), Icelandic eldri (“older, elder”), Latin altus (“high, tall, grown big, lofty”). Related to eld.

Pronunciation

Adjective

old (comparative older or elder, superlative oldest or eldest)

an old building.
  1. Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
    an old abandoned building
    an old friend
  2. Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years.
    a wrinkled old man
  3. Of a perishable item, having existed for most, or more than its shelf life.
    An old loaf of bread.
  4. Of an item that has been used and so is not new (unused).
    I find that an old toothbrush is good to clean the keyboard with.
  5. Having existed or lived for the specified time.
    How old are they? She’s five years old and he's seven. We also have a young teen and a two-year-old.
    My great-grandfather lived to be a hundred and one years old.
  6. Former, previous.
    My new car is not as good as my old one.
    a school reunion for Old Etonians
    • 1994, Michael Grumley, Life Drawing
      But over my old life, a new life had formed.
  7. That is no longer in existence.
    The footpath follows the route of an old railway line.
  8. Obsolete; out-of-date.
    That is the old way of doing things; now we do it this way.
  9. Familiar.
    When he got drunk and quarrelsome they just gave him the old heave-ho.
  10. Tiresome.
    Your constant pestering is getting old.
  11. Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over time.
  12. A grammatical intensifier, often used in describing something positive. (Mostly in idioms like good old, big old and little old, any old and some old.)
    We're having a good old time.
    My next car will be a big old SUV.
    My wife makes the best little old apple pie in Texas.
  13. (obsolete) Excessive, abundant.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Terms derived from old

Translations

of an object, concept, etc: having existed for a relatively long period of time
of a living being: having lived for relatively many years
former
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having existed or lived for the specified time
(of an item) used, not new
tiresome
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Noun

old (countable and uncountable; plural old) (usually used as plural)

  1. People who are old; old beings; the older generation; usually used with the.
    A civilised society should always look after the old in the community.

Statistics

Anagrams

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Hungarian

Pronunciation

Verb

old

  1. to solve
  2. to untie

Derived terms

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Low German

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle Low German, from Old Saxon ald, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz. The A became an O through the effect of the velarised L in the same manner as in Dutch oud. Cognate with English old, Dutch oud, German alt, West Frisian âld. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *altós.

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɔːɫt/

Adjective

old

  1. old
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Middle Low German

Alternative forms

  • olt (more common spelling marking the pronunciation)

Etymology

From Old Saxon ald. The A became an O through the effect of the velarised L in the same manner as in Dutch oud. Cognate with English old, Dutch oud, German alt, West Frisian âld.

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɔːɫt/

Adjective

old

  1. old

Descendants

  • Low German: old
  • dialectal German: oll
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Last modified on 20 May 2013, at 14:24