genarian
English
editEtymology 1
editBack-formation from sexagenarian, septuagenarian, octogenarian, and so on.
Noun
editgenarian (plural genarians)
- An elderly person, especially one over the age of 60.
- 1955, Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe, Sundown; Later and Earlier Selected Poems, page 71:
- Let all the genarians pass in review — The procession will last but a minute or two.
- 1994 September 19, Gerry Goldstein, “Maurice Browning thrives and grows, just like his garden”, in Providence Journal-Bulletin:
- His garden is an expansive project for an octogenarian, or any kind of genarian.
- 2008, Elaine Bernstein Partnow, Judith Partnow Hyman, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Your True Age, →ISBN, page 41:
- At the other end of the spectrum, several genarians had physical fitness AQs down in the 30s!
- 2014, Carolyn Mathews, Squaring Circles, →ISBN:
- The only reference I made to his age, was the dedication on his card: To my sexy genarian.
Synonyms
edit- geriatric, oldster, senior citizen; see also Thesaurus:old person
Etymology 2
editAdjective
editgenarian (not comparable)
- (philosophy) Concerning rules or principles as opposed to acts.
- 1979, Peter Schröder, Leonard Nelson Symposium, page 90:
- This distinguishes his position from that of rule-utilitarians like Brandt, with whom Hare otherwise largely agrees, and makes Hare an actarian in my sense rather than a genarian.
- 1982, J. H. Wellbank, Denis Snook, David T. Mason, John Rawls & His Critics: An Annotated Bibliography, page 187:
- Rawls' s theory is genarian (the Method is used to derive rules, principles, which in turn are applied to acts) rather than actarian (the Method applied directly to acts).