old
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: ōld
ipa: /ˈəʊld/
ipa: [ˈɔʊ(ɫ)d]
ipa: [ˈɒʊ(ɫ)d]
ipa: /ɑːd/
ipa: /aʊld/
ipa: /ˈoʊld/
ipa: [ˈoːɫd]
ipa: /əʉld/
ipa: [əʉɫd]
ipa: /ɐʉld/
ipa: [ɒʊ(ɫ)d]
rhymes: -əʊld
Forms: form: older
form: elder
form: oldest
form: eldest
form: oldermost
form: ol
form: ol'
form: ole
form: owld
form: aad
form: oul
form: oul'
form: ould
form: olde
form: aud
form: aul
form: auld
form: wold
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”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots aald, auld (“old”), Yola yola, yolaw, yold, yole (“old”), North Frisian ool, ual, 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, 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, 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.
Senses: examples: text: an old abandoned building
text: an old friend
text: 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.
ref: 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
text: When asked why the devices were retrofitted on older models instead of newer ones, Sarno said the MTA typically uses older car models when making modifications in case there are any unwanted effects.
ref: 2025 March 9, Nic F. Anderson, “Tired of subway delays? The MTA wants to fix that by strapping Google smartphones to New York trains”, in CNN:
glosses: Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
examples: text: a wrinkled old man
glosses: Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years.
examples: text: an old loaf of bread
glosses: Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
Of a perishable item, having existed for most of, or more than, its shelf life.
examples: text: the ginkgo is one of the oldest living trees
text: Basque is the oldest language in Europe
glosses: Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
Of a species or language, belonging to a lineage that is distantly related to others.
examples: text: I find that an old toothbrush is good to clean the keyboard with.
glosses: Having been used and thus no longer new or unused.
examples: text: 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.
text: My great-grandfather lived to be a hundred and one years old.
glosses: Having existed or lived for the specified time.
examples: text: My new car is not as good as my old one.  a school reunion for Old Etonians
text: 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.
ref: 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:
text: But over my old life, a new life had formed.
ref: 1994, Michael Grumley, Life Drawing:
glosses: Of an earlier time.
Former, previous.
examples: text: The footpath follows the route of an old railway line.
glosses: Of an earlier time.
That is no longer in existence.
examples: text: That is the old way of doing things; now we do it this way.
glosses: Of an earlier time.
Obsolete; out-of-date.
examples: text: When he got drunk and quarrelsome they just gave him the old heave-ho.
text: 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.’
ref: 1991, Stephen Fry, chapter III, in The Liar, London: William Heinemann, →ISBN, page 26:
glosses: Of an earlier time.
Familiar.
glosses: Of an earlier time.
Being a graduate or alumnus of a school, especially a public school.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1995, MacUser, volume 11, MacUser Publications, page 147:
text: 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.
ref: 2000, Charles A. Siringo, A Texas Cowboy: or, Fifteen Years on the Hurricane Deck of a Spanish Pony, Penguin, →ISBN, page 100:
text: The songs start to get old real fast, and it's easy to get bored after the third song.
ref: 2008, Homer L. Hall, Logan H. Aimone, High School Journalism, The Rosen Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 171:
text: It was the same old thing every week, working and drinking, working and drinking. It became old and I got really sick of it.
ref: 2012, Blossom, From Under a Bridge Ii, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 40:
text: Your constant pestering is getting old.
glosses: Tiresome after prolonged repetition.
synonyms: antique
glosses: Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over time.
examples: text: We're having a good old time.
text: My next car will be a big old SUV.
text: My wife makes the best little old apple pie in Texas.
text: any old
synonyms: ol'
glosses: A grammatical intensifier, often used in describing something positive, and combined with another adjective.
examples: text: Finally, when they were all done slobbering around, old Sally introduced us.
ref: 1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 165:
glosses: Indicating affection and familiarity.
raw_tags: of a person
examples: text: Monsieur's story is too old for our Juvenile Magazine.
ref: 1868, Oliver Optic's Magazine: Our Boys and Girls ..., page 431:
text: The text is too old for toddlers, but the colorful photographs are large enough and appropriate for them.
ref: 1998, Rita Schrank, Science, Math, and Nutrition for Toddlers: Setting the Stage for Serendipity:
text: Diane Ehrensaft (1997) finds that middle-class parents typically buy "older" toys for their children to encourage accelerated development.
ref: 2006 January 9, Christine L. Williams, Inside Toyland: Working, Shopping, and Social Inequality, Univ of California Press, →ISBN, page 219:
text: 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.
ref: 2019 12, Sean David Burke, Lighting the Literacy Fire, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 131:
text: Bluey: Oh! It's like checkers!
Bandit: Yeah, but a lot harder than checkers.
Chilli: And so probably a bit old for Bluey, right?
ref: 2021, Joe Brumm, “Chest”, in Bluey, season 3, episode 11:
glosses: Designed for a mature audience; unsuitable for children below a certain age.
examples: text: 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;
ref: 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]:
glosses: Excessive, abundant.
Synonyms: sense: having existed for a long period of time
word: ancient
word: long in the tooth
word: paleo-
sense: having lived for many years
word: aged
word: ageing
word: aging
word: elderly
word: on in years
sense: having existed or lived for the specified time
word: aged
sense: having existed or lived for the specified time
word: of age
sense: former
word: erstwhile
word: ex-
word: former
word: one-time
word: past
alt: out-of-date
word: antiquated
english: of words
translation: of words
word: obsolete
word: outdated
word: obsolete
word: age-old
word: antediluvian
word: auld
word: cobwebbed
word: cobwebby
word: decrepit
word: eld
word: eldern
word: gray
word: hoary
word: moss-grown
word: old
word: old as the hills
word: old as the Pyramids
word: olden
word: older than dirt
word: older than the hills
word: older than the Pyramids
word: venerable
word: wintry
Hyponyms: word: Specific cases:
word: elderly
word: stale
word: Very old:
word: centuried
word: prehistoric
word: primeval
Derived terms: 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
grand old man
green old age
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
lil old
li'l' 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
nonold
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
oldass
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
oldbie
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
Oldbury
Old Capitol Site
Old Castile
old cat
Old Catton
old chap
old chestnut
Old Church Slavic
Old Church Slavonic
Old City
Old Cleeve
old-clothesman
old clothesman
old cocoyam
old codger
old college try
Old Colwyn
oldcomer
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 Pyramids
oldest occupation
oldest profession
oldest profession in the world
oldfag
oldfangled
old-fangled
old-farrand
old-farrant
old fart
old fartism
old-fashion
old fashioned
old-fashioned
old fashioned glass
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
oldhead
old head on young shoulders
Old High German
Old Hill
oldhood
old horse
Old Horse
Old Icelandic
oldies
oldify
Old Indic
Old Indo-Aryan
Old Ingarsby
old in the tooth
Old Ionic
Old Iranian
Old Irish
oldish
Old Jamestown
Old Kaabakan
Old Kent Road
Old Khmer
Old Kilpatrick
old lace
old lady
old lang syne
Old Latin
Old Leake
oldline
old-line
oldling
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 Marathi
Old Marston
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 Orchard Beach
Old Passage
old penny
old people
old people's home
Old Persian
Old Poblacion
Old Port
Oldport
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
oldshit
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 Sour
old sourdough
Old South
oldspeak
Oldspeak
old sport
oldsquaw
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-time music
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
oldtown
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 Woking
Old Wolverton
old woman
old-womanish
old-womanishly
old woman's tooth
Old Woodhall
Old World
old-world
oldy
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
same old stuff
slip back to old ways
some old
Some Old Hippie Caught Another Hippie Tripping On Acid
superold
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
ye olde
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
Related terms: word: creaky
word: former
word: moldy
word: obsolete
word: ragged
word: rotten
word: timeworn
word: used
word: wearisome
word: withered
word: oldly
word: oldness
word: old man
word: old woman