olden

CEFRB2

/ˈəʊl.dn̩/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Belonging to a long time ago.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Old; ancient.

Examples

  • In olden times, football was popular in both Greece and Rome.

  • The legend has come down in this district from olden times.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈəʊl.dən/
  • /ˈoʊldən/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. To grow old; age; assume an older appearance or character; become affected by age.

  2. From or relating to a previous era.

More examples

In context

  • olden days, olden times

  • In olden days, a glimpse of stockings Was looked on as something shocking; Now, heaven knows, Anything goes.

  • "You are right to some extent in what you say. In the olden days people had a stronger belief in all kinds of witchery; now they pretend not to believe in it, that they may be looked upon as sensible and educated people, as you say."

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

In the blank days, people often traveled by horse and carriage.

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

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Middle English olden, probably originally an inflected plural form of old (compare Old English ealdum, dative plural of eald (“old”)), but later reanalysed as equivalent to old + -en (“made of”). Otherwise derived from Old Norse aldinn (“ancient, old”).