old
adjEtymology
Inherited from Middle English old, oold, from Old English ald, eald (“old, aged, ancient, antique, primeval”), from Proto-West Germanic *ald, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz (“grown-up”), originally a participle form, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eltós (“grown, tall, big”). Cognates Cognate with Scots aald, auld (“old”), Yola yola, yolaw, yold, yole (“old”), North Frisian ool, ual, uuil, uul, üülj (“old”), Saterland Frisian oold (“old”), West Frisian âld (“old”), Alemannic German altu, oalt, oalts, olt, àltà (“old”), Bavarian oid (“old”), Central Franconian alt, aod, auw, oot (“old”), Cimbrian and German alt (“old”), Dutch oud, oudt (“old”), German Low German old, oolt (“old”), Luxembourgish al (“old”), Mòcheno òlt (“old”), Vilamovian aołd (“old”), Yiddish אַלט (alt, “old”), Danish ældre (“elderly”), Faroese eldri (“elder, older”), Icelandic aldinn (“old”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk eldre (“elderly”), Swedish äldre (“elderly”), Crimean Gothic alt (“old”), Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌸𐌴𐌹𐍃 (alþeis, “old”), Latin altus (“high, tall, grown big, lofty”). Related to eld.
Definitions
Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of…
Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
- an old abandoned building
- an old friend
Having been used and thus no longer new or unused.
- I find that an old toothbrush is good to clean the keyboard with.
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 child.
- My great-grandfather lived to be a hundred and one years old.
›+ 16 more definitionsshow fewer
Of an earlier time.
- My new car is not as good as my old one. a school reunion for Old Etonians
- But over my old life, a new life had formed.
Tiresome after prolonged repetition.
- Rik: But even great shtick can get old real fast: the dreaded Saturday Night Live syndrome. Jim: Randomness can help - many Living Books have characters that do different things each time you click on them.
- John and I built a small stone house on the head of “Bonetta” Canyon and had a hog killing time all by ourselves. Hunting was our delight at first, until it became old.
- The songs start to get old real fast, and it's easy to get bored after the third song.
Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over…
Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over time.
A grammatical intensifier, often used in describing something positive, and combined with…
A grammatical intensifier, often used in describing something positive, and combined with another adjective.
- 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.
Indicating affection and familiarity.
- Finally, when they were all done slobbering around, old Sally introduced us.
Designed for a mature audience
Designed for a mature audience; unsuitable for children below a certain age.
- Monsieur's story is too old for our Juvenile Magazine.
- The text is too old for toddlers, but the colorful photographs are large enough and appropriate for them.
- Diane Ehrensaft (1997) finds that middle-class parents typically buy "older" toys for their children to encourage accelerated development.
Excessive, abundant.
- URSULA: Madam, you must come to your uncle. Yonder's old coil at home: it is proved, my Lady Hero hath been falsely accused, the prince and Claudio mightily abused;
People who are old
People who are old; old beings; the older generation, taken as a group.
- A civilised society should always look after the old in the community.
A person older than oneself, especially an adult in relation to a teenager.
- Near-synonyms: geezer, oldie, oldster; see also Thesaurus:old person
- I'm not letting an old wreck my good time today.
- I'm not letting any olds wreck my good time today.
One's parents.
- I had to sneak out to meet my girlfriend and tell the olds I was going to the library.
A typically dark-coloured lager brewed by the traditional top-fermentation method.
- We crossed to the pub on the corner of Carlisle Street and I ordered two schooners of old for him and one of light for me.
Initialism of Oxford Latin Dictionary.
Abbreviation of online dating.
Abbreviation of obsessive love disorder
A surname.
A village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire district, Northamptonshire, England,…
A village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire district, Northamptonshire, England, previously in Daventry district (OS grid ref SP7873).
The neighborhood
- synonymancienthaving existed for a long period of time
- synonymlong in the tooth
- synonympaleo-
- synonymageing
- synonymaging
- synonymelderly
- synonymon in years
- synonymex-
- synonymformer
- synonymone-time
- synonympast
- synonymantiquated
- antonymbrand newantonym(s) of “having existed for a long period of time”
- antonymfreshantonym(s) of “having existed for a long period of time”
- antonymnewantonym(s) of “having existed for a long period of time”
- antonymneo-antonym(s) of “having existed for a long period of time”
- antonymceno-antonym(s) of “having existed for a long period of time”
- antonymyoungantonym(s) of “having lived for many years”
- antonymcurrentantonym(s) of “former”
- antonymlatestantonym(s) of “former”
- antonymnew-fangled
- antonymnubile
- neighborcreaky
- neighborformer
- neighbormoldy
- neighborobsolete
- neighborragged
- neighborrotten
- neighbortimeworn
- neighborused
- neighborwearisome
- neighborwithered
- neighboroldly
- neighboroldness
Derived
age-old, Aldgate, an old dog for a hard road, any old, any old how, any old kind of way, any old nook or cranny, any old thing, argue like an old married couple, as demure as an old whore at a christening, as old as Methuselah, as old as time itself, back to the old drawing board, bad old days, bicker like an old married couple, big old, centuries-old, chip off the old block, chip of the old block, come the old acid, come the old soldier, comfortable as an old shoe, day-old, dirty old man, every old nook and cranny, everything old is new again, fight like an old married couple, forold, for old sake's sake, for old time's sake, for old times' sake, for old times' sakes, gay old time, give someone the old heave-ho, Gloucester Old Spots, good old, good old boy, good old boy network, good old days, good old times · +407 more
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for old. 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