alder

See also: Alder, Alder., ålder, and âlder

English

Female (left) and male (right) catkins.

Etymology 1

From Middle English alder, aller, from Old English alor, from Proto-West Germanic *aluʀu, from Proto-Germanic *aluz, *alusō (compare Swedish al, Saterland Frisian äller(boom)), variant of *alizō, *alisō (compare Dutch els, German Erle, Norwegian or), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂élis- (compare Hittite [script needed] (alanza(n)), Latin alnus, Latvian al̃ksnis, Polish olcha, Albanian halë (“black pine”), Ancient Macedonian (Hesychius) ἄλιζα (áliza, “white poplar”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɔːldə/
• (US, Canada)
  • (without cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɔldɚ/
  • (with cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɑldɚ/

Noun

alder (plural alders)

1. Any of several trees or shrubs of the genus Alnus, belonging to the birch family.

Derived terms

• alder bush
• Aldercar
• alderfly
• aldern
• alderwood

 

alder species

• alder buckthorn (Frangula alnus)
• Andean alder (Alnus acuminata)
• black alder (Alnus glutinosa, Ilex verticillata)
• brook alder (Ilex verticillata)
• Caucasian alder (Alnus subcordata)
• common alder (Alnus glutinosa)
• European alder (Alnus glutinosa)
• false alder (Ilex verticillata, Cunonia capensis)
• Formosan alder (Alnus formosana)
• green alder (Alnus viridis)
• grey alder (Alnus incana)
• hazel alder (Alnus serrulata)
• Himalayan alder (Alnus nitida)
• Italian alder (Alnus cordata)
• Japanese alder (Alnus japonica)
• Manchurian alder (Alnus hirsuta)
• Mexican alder (Alnus jorullensis)
• Nepalese alder (Alnus nepalensis)
• oriental alder (Alnus orientalis)
• red alder (Alnus rubra)
• seaside alder (Alnus maritima)
• striped alder (Ilex verticillata)
• white alder (Ilex verticillata)

 

Translations

any tree or shrub of the genus Alnus

• Armenian: լաստենի (hy) (lasteni)
• Albanian: verr (sq)
• Aromanian: anin (roa-rup), arin (roa-rup)
• Bashkir: ерек (yerek)
• Basque: haltz (eu)
• Breton: gwern (br) pl, evor (br)
• Bulgarian: елша (elša)
• Catalan: vern (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 榿 (zh) (qī)

• Czech: olše (cs) f
• Danish: el (da)
• Dutch: els (nl) m
• Erzya: лепе (lepe)
• Esperanto: alno
• Estonian: lepp
• Faroese: elri (fo) m, ølur m
• Finnish: leppä (fi)
• French: aulne (fr) m, verne (fr) m
• Galician: amieiro (gl) m, ameneiro (gl) m, abeneiro (gl) m, arche m
• Georgian: თხმელა (txmela), მურყანი (murq̇ani)
• German: Erle (de) f
• Greek: άλνος m (álnos)

  Ancient: κλήθρα f (klḗthra)

• Greenlandic: palleq
• Hungarian: éger (hu)
• Icelandic: elri (is), ölur m
• Interlingue: alne
• Irish: fearnóg f

  Old Irish: fern

• Italian: ontano (it) m
• Japanese: 榿 (ja) (hannoki)

• Latin: alnus (la) f
• Latvian: alksnis m
• Low German: Eller f, Els f

  German Low German: eller (nds)

• Macedonian: евла f (evla)
• Manx: farney m, farney f
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: нӧлпӧ (nölpö)

  Western Mari: лӱлпӹ (lülpÿ)

• Mazanderani: توسکا‎ (tuskā)
• Middle English: aller
• Nahuatl: Īlītl (nah)
• Norman: aune m
• Norwegian: or (no) c, older m or f, older m or f
• Old English: alor m
• Old Norse: ǫlr
• Persian: توسکا‎ (fa) (tuskâ)
• Polish: olcha (pl) f, olsza (pl) f
• Portuguese: amieiro (pt) m
• Romanian: arin (ro) m, anin (ro) m
• Russian: ольха́ (ru) f (olʹxá)
• Scots: aller
• Scottish Gaelic: feàrna f, crann-fèarna m
• Serbo-Croatian: joha (sh) f, jova (sh) f
• Slovak: jelša (sk) f
• Slovene: jelša (sl)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: wólša f

• Spanish: aliso (es) m
• Swedish: al (sv) c
• Tagalog: aliso
• Turkish: kızılağaç (tr)
• Venetian: onaro (vec)
• Welsh: gwernen f
• Yiddish: אָלכע‎ f (olkhe)

Etymology 2

Clipping of alderman.

Noun

alder (plural alders)

1. An alderman or alderwoman.
   • 2004, Stephanie Luce -, Fighting for a Living Wage, page 121:

     Almost immediately, city alders contacted the campaign to negotiate an ordinance.

   • 2013, Dawn Day Biehler, Pests in the City: Flies, Bedbugs, Cockroaches, and Rats, page 180:

     Chicago's mayor Edward Kennelly, the city alders, and many white Chicagoans opposed this siting plan.

   • 2017 September 28, Isabel Bysiewicz, “Eidelson reflects on time as alder”, in Yale Daily News:

     After three years as Ward 1 alder, Sarah Eidelson ’12 will leave city government at the end of the year.

Anagrams

• Adler, Alred, Eldar, Leard, Radel, Radle, lader, lared

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Danish

Etymology

From Old Danish aldær, from Old Norse aldr, from Proto-Germanic *aldrą.

Noun

alder c (singular definite alderen, plural indefinite aldre)

1. age

Inflection

Declension of alder

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	alder	alderen	aldre	aldrene
genitive	alders	alderens	aldres	aldrenes

Derived terms

Terms derived from “alder”

• alderdom c
• alderdomshjem n
• aldersbestemme
• aldersdiabetes c
• aldersdiabetiker c
• aldersformand c
• aldersgruppe c
• aldersgrænse c
• alderspension c
• alderspensionist c
• alderspræsident c
• aldersspredning c
• alderssvarende

• alderstegen
• barnealder c
• bronzealder c
• førskolealder c
• gennemsnitsalder c
• guldalder c
• højmiddelalder c
• jernalder c
• lavalder c
• levealder c
• lømmelalder c
• menneskealder c
• middelalder c

• myndighedsalder c
• overgangsalder c
• pensionsalder c
• senmiddelalder c
• stenalder c
• sølvalder c
• tidsalder c
• trodsalder c
• ungpigealder c
• voksealder c
• voksenalder c
• værnepligtsalder c

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse aldr, from Proto-Germanic *aldrą. Akin to ale (“to raise”), from ala.

Noun

alder m (definite singular alderen, indefinite plural aldere or aldre or aldrer, definite plural alderne or aldrene)

1. age

Derived terms

Terms derived from alder

• alderdom
• aldersblandet
• aldersforskjell
• aldersgrense
• aldersgruppe
• aldersheim

• aldershjem
• alderspensjon
• alderspensjonist
• aldring
• bronsealder
• gjennomsnittsalder

• gullalder
• levealder
• mellomalder
• middelalder
• steinalder
• tidsalder

References

• “alder” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse aldr, from Proto-Germanic *aldrą. Akin to ale (“to raise”), from ala.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑldɛr/

Noun

alder m (definite singular alderen, indefinite plural aldrar, definite plural aldrane)

1. age

Derived terms

Terms derived from alder

• alderdom
• aldersforskjell
• aldersgrense
• aldersgruppe
• aldersheim

• alderspensjon
• alderspensjonist
• bronsealder
• gjennomsnittsalder
• gullalder

• levealder
• mellomalder
• steinalder
• tidsalder

References

• “alder” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Old Swedish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse allr, from Proto-Germanic *allaz.

Adjective

alder

1. all
2. whole, complete

Declension

Declension of alder (strong)

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	alder	al	alt
accusative	allan	alla	alt
dative	allum, -om	aldri	allu, -o
genitive	als	aldrar	als
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	allir, -e(r)	allar	al
accusative	alla	allar	al
dative	allum, -om	allum, -om	allum, -om
genitive	aldra	aldra	aldra

Descendants

• Swedish: all

Etymology 2

From Old Norse aldr, from Proto-Germanic *aldrą.

Noun

alder m

1. lifetime
2. age; how old someone or something is
3. age, era
4. old age

Declension

Declension of alder (a-stem)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	alder	aldrin	aldra(r)	aldrani(r), -ane(r)
accusative	alder	aldrin	aldra	aldrana
dative	aldri, -e	aldrinum, -enom	aldrum, -om	aldrumin, -omen
genitive	alders	aldersins	aldra	aldranna

Descendants

• Swedish: ålder