elder

CEFRB1

/ˈeldə/

adjective · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Older than another person in a family or group.

  2. 02

    noun

    An older and respected person in a community.

Examples

  • John's mother looks so young that she is often mistaken for his elder sister.

  • Then the younger brother set off, and the elder remained behind.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈɛldə/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. A leader or senior member of a tribe or community, often of considerable age, respected as an authority figure, especially in a counselling, consultative, or ceremonial role.

  2. Closer to the dealer, i.e. receiving cards earlier than others.

  3. comparative degree of old: older, greater than another in age or seniority.

More examples

In context

  • It's typical for elder married couples to live in retirement homes.

  • The elder of the two was also an elder statesman.

  • We were presented to the village elder.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The village blank was respected by everyone for his wisdom.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Middle English eldre, from Old English eldra, yldra, ieldra, from Proto-Germanic *alþizô. The vowel change from a to e triggered by the following i is called umlaut or I-mutation.