eldern

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English eldern, eldrin, elderne, equivalent to elder +‎ -en.

Alternative forms

eldren

Adjective

eldern (comparative more eldern, superlative most eldern)

(of persons) Elder; elderly; aged; old.
(of things) Not new; old; ancient.

Synonyms

(elderly): aged, long in the tooth, wizened; see also Thesaurus:elderly
(not new): aged, cobwebby, olden; see also Thesaurus:old

Etymology 2

From an alteration (due to elder) of Middle English ellern (“eldern”), from Old English ellærn, ellarn (“of elder-wood, eldern”), equivalent to elder +‎ -en.

Adjective

eldern (not comparable)

(obsolete) Made of elder wood.
- c. 1603 (date written), Iohn Marston, The Malcontent, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for William Aspley, […], published 1604, →OCLC, Act IV, scene iv:
  [T]ruth, a heauen he would diſcharge vs as boyes do elderne guns, one pellet to ſtrike out another: […]

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “eldern”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

Lender, eldren, lender, relend