# old
## English
### Alternative forms

* ol', ol, ole
* olde (archaic)

### Etymology

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”). Cognate with Scots auld (“old”), North Frisian ool, ual, uul (“old”), Saterland Frisian oold (“old”), West Frisian âld (“old”), Dutch oud (“old”), Low German old (“old”), German alt (“old”), Swedish äldre (“older, elder”), Icelandic eldri (“older, elder”), Latin altus (“high, tall, grown big, lofty”). Related to eld.

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈəʊld/, [ˈɔʊ(ɫ)d], [ˈɒʊ(ɫ)d]
** Audio (UK):(file)
** Audio (UK):(file)
* (US) enPR: ōld, IPA: /ˈoʊld/
** Audio (US):(file)
* (New Zealand) IPA: /aʉld/, [ɒʊ(ɫ)d]
* (Canada) IPA: [ˈoːɫd]
* Rhymes: -əʊld

### Adjective

old (comparative older or elder, superlative oldest or eldest or (US, dialectal) oldermost)
* Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
    an old abandoned building
    an old friend
** 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too.
** Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years.
    a wrinkled old man
** Of a perishable item, having existed for most of, or more than, its shelf life.
    an old loaf of bread
** Of a species or language, belonging to a lineage that is distantly related to others.
    the ginkgo is one of the oldest living trees
    Basque is the oldest language in Europe
* 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.
* (heading) Of an earlier time.
** Former, previous.
    My new car is not as good as my old one.  a school reunion for Old Etonians
*** 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.
*** 1994, Michael Grumley, Life Drawing:But over my old life, a new life had formed.
** That is no longer in existence.
    The footpath follows the route of an old railway line.
** Obsolete; out-of-date.
    That is the old way of doing things; now we do it this way.
** Familiar.
*** 1991, Stephen Fry, chapter III, in The Liar, London: William Heinemann, →ISBN, page 26:Adrian thought it worth while to try out his new slang. ‘I say, you fellows, here's a rum go. Old Biffo was jolly odd this morning. He gave me a lot of pi-jaw about slacking and then invited me to tea. No rotting! He did really.’
    When he got drunk and quarrelsome they just gave him the old heave-ho.
** (UK) Being a graduate or alumnus of a school, especially a public school.
* Tiresome after prolonged repetition.
** 1995, MacUser, volume 11, MacUser Publications, page 147: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.
** 2000, Charles A. Siringo, A Texas Cowboy: or, Fifteen Years on the Hurricane Deck of a Spanish Pony, Penguin, →ISBN, page 100: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.
** 2008, Homer L. Hall, Logan H. Aimone, High School Journalism, The Rosen Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 171:The songs start to get old real fast, and it's easy to get bored after the third song.
** 2012, Blossom, From Under a Bridge Ii, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 40:It was the same old thing every week, working and drinking, working and drinking. It became old and I got really sick of it.
    Your constant pestering is getting old.
* Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over time.
    Synonym: antique
* 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.
    any old
* (informal, of a person) Indicating affection and familiarity.
** 1951, J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 165:Finally, when they were all done slobbering around, old Sally introduced us.
* Designed for a mature audience; unsuitable for children below a certain age.
** 1868, Oliver Optic's Magazine: Our Boys and Girls ..., page 431:Monsieur's story is too old for our Juvenile Magazine.
** 1998, Rita Schrank, Science, Math, and Nutrition for Toddlers: Setting the Stage for Serendipity:The text is too old for toddlers, but the colorful photographs are large enough and appropriate for them.
** 2006 January 9, Christine L. Williams, Inside Toyland: Working, Shopping, and Social Inequality, Univ of California Press, →ISBN, page 219:Diane Ehrensaft (1997) finds that middle-class parents typically buy "older" toys for their children to encourage accelerated development.
** 2019 12, Sean David Burke, Lighting the Literacy Fire, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 131:If you feel you have to leave something out because it's too horrible, then either the story is too old for the child, or you fail to understand the way your child will accept the rough justice and feel inwardly content at the outcome.
** 2021, Joe Brumm, “Chest”, in Bluey, season 3, episode 11:Bluey: Oh! It's like checkers! Bandit: Yeah, but a lot harder than checkers. Chilli: And so probably a bit old for Bluey, right?
* (obsolete) Excessive, abundant.
** 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]: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;

#### Synonyms

* (having existed for a long period of time): ancient, long in the tooth, paleo-; see also Thesaurus:old
* (having lived for many years): aged, ageing / aging, elderly, long in the tooth, on in years; see also Thesaurus:elderly
* (having existed or lived for the specified time): aged, of age
* (former): erstwhile, ex-, former, one-time, past; see also Thesaurus:former
* (out-of-date): antiquated, obsolete (of words), outdated; see also Thesaurus:obsolete

#### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “having existed for a long period of time”): brand new, fresh, new, neo-, ceno-
* (antonym(s) of “having lived for many years”): young
* (antonym(s) of “former”): current, latest, new

#### Derived terms

* age-old
* 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
* 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
* good old
* good old boy
* good old boy network
* good old days
* good old times
* grand old man
* high old time
* how old are you
* I am twenty years old, I'm twenty years old
* I am ... year(s) old, I'm ... year(s) old
* in the old times
* like old boots
* li'l old
* li'l' old
* lil old
* little old
* little old me
* make old bones
* money for old rope
* new wine in an old bottle
* new wine in an old wineskin
* of old
* ol'
* Old Aberdeen
* Old Adam
* old-age
* Old Age
* old age
* old age pension
* old-age pensioner
* old age pensioner
* Old Akkadian
* old ale
* Old Alresford
* Old Anatolian Turkic
* Old Anatolian Turkish
* Old Aramaic
* Old Armenian
* old army game
* old as Adam
* Old Assyrian
* old as the hills, older than the hills
* old as the Pyramids
* old as time
* old as time itself
* Old Babylonian
* old bag
* old ball
* old banger
* Old Barag
* Old Basford
* Old Basing
* old bean
* Old Bering Sea
* Old Blighty
* Old Blue
* Old Bolingbroke
* old boy
* old boyism
* old-boyism
* old boy network
* old-boy network
* old boys' club
* Old Brampton
* old broad
* Old Bulatukan
* Old Bulgarian
* Old Capitol Site
* Old Castile
* old cat
* Old Catton
* old chap
* old chestnut
* Old Church Slavic
* Old Church Slavonic
* Old Cleeve
* old-clothesman
* old clothesman
* old cocoyam
* old codger
* old college try
* Old Colwyn
* Old Coulsdon
* old country
* Old Cumnock
* Old Czech
* old days
* old dear
* Old Deer
* Old Denaby
* Old Dutch
* old-earth creationism
* old Earth creationism
* old earth creationism
* Old Egyptian
* Old Elvish
* olden
* Old English
* old English carrier
* old English Carrier
* old enough to vote
* older adult
* older-aged
* older brother
* older sister
* older than dirt
* older than the hills
* older than the Pyramids
* oldest occupation
* oldest profession
* oldest profession in the world
* old-fangled
* old-farrand
* old-farrant
* old fart
* old fartism
* old-fashion
* old fashioned
* old-fashioned
* old-fashioned look
* old-fashionedly
* old-fashionedness
* old fellow
* old-field colt
* old flame
* Old Flemish
* old fogey
* old fogy
* old folks
* old folks' home
* Old Ford
* old franc
* Old Franconian
* Old Frankish
* Old French
* old friend
* Old Frisian
* old fruit
* old gentleman
* old girl
* Old Glory
* old gold
* old gown
* old growth
* old-growth
* old-growth forest
* old guard
* old guardism
* old guardist
* Old Gutnish
* old habits die hard
* old hag syndrome
* old hand
* Old Harbour
* old-hat
* old hat
* old head on young shoulders
* Old High German
* Old Hill
* oldhood
* old horse
* Old Horse
* Old Icelandic
* oldies
* Old Indic
* Old Indo-Aryan
* Old Ingarsby
* old in the tooth
* Old Ionic
* Old Iranian
* Old Irish
* Old Jamestown
* Old Kaabakan
* Old Kent Road
* Old Khmer
* Old Kilpatrick
* old lace
* old lady
* old lang syne
* Old Latin
* Old Leake
* old-line
* old long syne
* Old Low Franconian
* Old Low Frankish
* Old Low German
* oldly
* Old Lyme
* old maid
* old-maidenism
* old-maidhood
* old-maidish
* old-maidism
* old maid's bonnet
* old man
* old-man
* Old Man of Coniston
* old man of the woods
* old man's beard
* old man's drip
* old man's eyebrow
* old man's friend
* old man's pepper
* old man yelling at a cloud
* old man yelling at cloud
* old man yelling at clouds
* old man yelling at the clouds
* old man yells at cloud
* old master
* old mate
* old media
* Old Milan
* Old Mill Creek
* Old Milton
* Old Milverton
* old money
* old moon
* Old National Pronunciation
* oldness
* old news
* Old Nick
* Old Norse
* Old North
* Old North French
* Old North State
* Old Norwegian
* Old Nubian
* Old Oak Common
* old-oil
* old-old
* old penny
* old people
* old people's home
* Old Persian
* Old Poblacion
* Old Provençal
* Old Prussian
* Old Radnor
* old ral
* Old Ravensworth
* old regime
* Old Rizal
* old rose
* Old Russian
* olds
* old salt
* Old San Jose
* Old Sarum
* old saw
* Old Saxon
* Old Saybrook
* Old Scandinavian
* Old School
* old-school
* old school
* old-shoe
* old shoe
* Old Shoreham
* old sight
* old sins cast long shadows
* old sins have long shadows
* old skool
* Old Slavic
* Old Slavonic
* Old Slovak
* old sod
* old soldier
* oldsome
* old song
* old soul
* old sourdough
* old sport
* old squaw
* old stager
* old stick
* Old Stratford
* old-style
* Old Swan
* old-sweat
* old sweat
* Old Testament
* old time
* old-time
* old-time country
* old-timer
* old timer
* old-timer's disease
* old timer's disease
* old-timers' disease
* old timers' disease
* old time used to be
* old-timey
* old timey
* old-timy
* old toast
* old top
* old town, Old Town
* old tyme
* old use
* Old Warden
* Old Welsh
* old wife
* old-wifish
* Old Windsor
* old wine in a new bottle
* old wine in new bottles
* old wives' tale
* old wivish
* old-wivish
* Old Wolverton
* old woman
* old-womanish
* old-womanishly
* old woman's tooth
* Old Woodhall
* Old World
* old-world
* ole
* one-year-old
* over-old
* pay off old scores
* plain old
* plain old data
* plain old telephone service
* poor old
* rake over old coals
* reopen old wounds
* ripe old age
* same old
* same old same old
* same old same-old
* same-old same-old
* same old-same old
* same old story
* slip back to old ways
* some old
* Some Old Hippie Caught Another Hippie Tripping On Acid
* that old dog won't hunt
* the oldest trick in the book
* the old woman is plucking her goose
* there's life in the old dog yet
* there's many a good tune played on an old fiddle
* there's no fool like an old fool
* thousand-year-old egg
* today years old
* tough as old boots
* tune the old cow died of
* up to one's old tricks
* what's old is new again
* world-old
* world's oldest profession
* year-old
* you are never too old to learn
* you can't catch old birds with chaff
* you can't put an old head on young shoulders
* you can't teach an old dog new tricks
* you're never too old to learn

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Noun

old (countable and uncountable, plural olds)
* (with the, invariable plural only) 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.
* (slang) 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.
* (slang, most often plural) One's parents.
    I had to sneak out to meet my girlfriend and tell the olds I was going to the library.
* (Australia, uncountable) A typically dark-coloured lager brewed by the traditional top-fermentation method.
    Antonym: new
** 2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 117: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.

### Anagrams

* DLO, DOL, Dol, LDO, LOD, Lo'd, LoD, Lod, dol, lod

## Danish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɔlˀ/, [ˈʌlˀ]

### Etymology 1

From Old Norse ǫld, from Proto-Germanic *aldiz, cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌳𐍃 (alds).

#### Noun

old c (singular definite olden, not used in plural form)
* (archaic) period, age, generation
** 1813, N.F.S. Grundtvig, “Kristjan den sjette”, in Poetiske Skrifter, volume 3, page 306:Hvad der bygtes i din Old, Bygtes som paa Grus og Sand.What was built in your age was built as if on gravel and sand.
** 1805, Adam Oehleschläger, Isefjorden‎:Hvor de tykke Piller favne / Støvet af de store Navne, / Som ei døer, ei blier forgiettet, / Naar min Old er længst udslettet.Where the massive columns embrace the dust of the great names that will not die, will not be forgotten when my generation has been obliterated for a long time.
* (archaic, rare) antiquity
** 1891, Holger Drachmann, Vildt og tæmmet, section 299:Andenlæreren var en Sværmer, og en fanatisk Sværmer, for den nordiske Old.The teaching assistant was an enthusiast, a fanatic enthusiast, for the Nordic Antiquity.

##### Derived terms

* hedenold
* old-
* olding
* oldsag
* oldtid

#### References

* “Old,1” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

### Etymology 2

Clipping of oldtidskundskab.

#### Noun

old c (uninflected)
* Classical Civilization (a course in secondary school)
    Synonym: oldtidskundskab

##### Derived terms

* oldlærer

#### References

* “old” in Den Danske Ordbog

## German Low German
### Alternative forms

* oold, ol, oll, olt, oolt

### Etymology

From Middle Low German ôlt. The A became an O through the effect of the velarised L in the same manner as in Dutch oud.
Cognate with English old, Dutch oud, German alt, West Frisian âld.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɔːɫt/

### Adjective

old (comparative öller, superlative öllst)
* old

#### Descendants

* → German: oll

## Hungarian
### Etymology

From Proto-Uralic *aŋa- (“to loosen, open (up), untie”) + -d (frequentative suffix).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈold]
* Audio:(file)
* Homophone: oldd
* Rhymes: -old

### Verb

old
* (transitive) to solve
* (transitive) to untie

#### Derived terms

* oldat
* oldatlan
* oldható
* oldoz
* oldódik
(With verbal prefixes):
* elold
* felold
* kiold
* leold
* megold
* kereket old

### References

* ↑ Entry #16 in Uralonet, online Uralic etymological database of the Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics.
* ↑ old in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN. (See also its 2nd edition.)

### Further reading

* old in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* eeld, eelde, eld, elde, holde, oold, olde, wolde
* ald, awlde, eild (Northern)
* eald, yald, yeald (Kent)
* yolde, yhold, yolle (Southwestern)

### Etymology

Inherited from Anglian Old English ald, from Proto-West Germanic *ald, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz (“grown-up”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-.
Forms with /ɛː/ are either from forms such as West Saxon and Kentish Old English eald or due to analogy with the comparative eldre or superlative eldest.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɔːld/
* (Northern) IPA: /aːld/
* (especially Southern) IPA: /ɛːld/

### Adjective

old (plural and weak singular olde, comparative eldre, superlative eldest)
* Old; long extant or existent:
** Elderly; advanced in life or lifecycle.
** Familiar, habitual; established as practice.
** Relating to old age or senescence.
* From or relating to an earlier era; ancient:
** Old-fashioned, archaic; following previous custom.
** No longer extant or in use; former.
* Aged; worn or used from age:
** (of food and drink) Matured, stale.
** (astronomy, of the moon) In the waning crescent.
* Mature (fully developed; past its youth).
* Old (having existed for a given time).

#### Usage notes

* Especially in late Middle English, the analogical comparative oldre and superlative oldest are also seen.

#### Descendants

* English: old (dialectal ole, ould, wold)
    Geordie English: awd, auld
* Scots: auld
* Yola: yole

#### References

* “ōld(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

### Noun

old
* A moon in its first phase after new; a waxing crescent.
** 1225, Dialogue on Vices and Virtues:Wið-uten ðe læche ðe loceð after mannes ikynde, þe newe oðer elde, and ðe wrihte his timber to keruen after ðare mone, ðe is ikyndelich þing; elles hit is al ȝedwoll.(please add an English translation of this quotation)

#### Synonyms

* olde mone

## Middle Low German
### Adjective

old
* Alternative spelling of ôlt.