Definition
adjOf an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
adjOf 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.
Sentence Examples
He was a benevolent old man who volunteered to mow his neighbors' lawns for free.
I am too old for this world.
The baby was only a few hours old.
Word Origin & History
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 (“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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
"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."
— 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:
"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."
— 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:
"But over my old life, a new life had formed."
— 1994, Michael Grumley, Life Drawing:
"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.’"
— 1991, Stephen Fry, chapter III, in The Liar, London: William Heinemann, →ISBN, page 26: