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elderdom

noun

Etymology

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”), German Altertum (“antiquity”), Swedish ålderdom (“eld, age”).

  1. inherited from ealdordōm
  2. inherited from *elderdom✻

Definitions

  1. Authority

    Authority; dominion.

    • Both of these things Moses fulfilled, when he refused elderdom or authority, [...]

  2. Preeminence

    Preeminence; superiority.

    • 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.

  3. The authority, rule, or office of an elder.

    • Hence the popular belief that elderdom was most of all at home on Russian soil.
  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. The state of being an elder, or of being older

      The state of being an elder, or of being older; elderhood.

      • Thanks to him, I have a better sense of what it takes to morph gracefully into elderdom.

    2. The role or influence of an elder or elders.

      • The weight of elderdom in our family was like a drapery to be taken for granted. In which anyone could at times gratefully hide.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for elderdom. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA