Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Old

Old

(ōld)
,
Noun.
Open country.
[Obs.]
See
World
.
Shak.

Old

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Older
;
sup
erl.
Oldest
.]
[OE.
old
,
ald
, AS.
ald
,
eald
; akin to D.
oud
, OS.
ald
, OFries.
ald
,
old
, G.
alt
, Goth.
alpeis
, and also to Goth.
alan
to grow up, Icel.
ala
to bear, produce, bring up, L.
alere
to nourish. Cf.
Adult
,
Alderman
,
Aliment
,
Auld
,
Elder
.]
1.
Not young; advanced far in years or life; having lived till toward the end of the ordinary term of living;
as, an
old
man; an
old
age; an
old
horse; an
old
tree
.
Let not
old
age disgrace my high desire.
Sir P. Sidney.
The melancholy news that we grow
old
.
Young.
2.
Not new or fresh; not recently made or produced; having existed for a long time;
as,
old
wine; an
old
friendship.
“An old acquaintance.”
Camden.
3.
Formerly existing; ancient; not modern; preceding; original;
as, an
old
law; an
old
custom; an
old
promise.
“The old schools of Greece.”
Milton.
“The character of the old Ligurians.”
Addison.
4.
Continued in life; advanced in the course of existence; having (a certain) length of existence; – designating the age of a person or thing;
as, an infant a few hours
old
; a cathedral centuries
old
.
And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How
old
art thou?
Cen. xlvii. 8.
☞ In this use old regularly follows the noun that designates the age; as, she was eight years old.
5.
Long practiced; hence, skilled; experienced; cunning;
as, an
old
offender;
old
in vice.
Vane, young in years, but in sage counsel
old
.
Milton.
6.
Long cultivated;
as, an
old
farm;
old
land
, as opposed to
new
land, that is, to land lately cleared.
7.
Worn out; weakened or exhausted by use; past usefulness;
as,
old
shoes;
old
clothes.
8.
More than enough; abundant.
[Obs.]
If a man were porter of hell gate, he should have
old
turning the key.
Shakespeare
9.
Aged; antiquated; hence, wanting in the mental vigor or other qualities belonging to youth; – used disparagingly as a term of reproach.
10.
Old-fashioned; wonted; customary; as of old;
as, the good
old
times
; hence, colloquially, gay; jolly.
11.
Used colloquially as a term of cordiality and familiarity.
“Go thy ways, old lad.”
Shak.
Old age
,
advanced years; the latter period of life.
–
Old bachelor
.
See
Bachelor
, 1.
–
Old Catholics
.
See under
Catholic
.
–
Old English
.
See under
English
.
Noun.
, 2.
–
Old Nick
,
Old Scratch
,
the devil.
–
Old lady
(Zool.)
,
a large European noctuid moth (
Mormo maura
).
–
Old maid
.
(a)
A woman, somewhat advanced in years, who has never been married; a spinster.
(b)
(Bot.)
A West Indian name for the pink-flowered periwinkle (
Vinca rosea
).
(c)
A simple game of cards, played by matching them. The person with whom the odd card is left is the
old maid
.
–
Old man’s beard
.
(Bot.)
(a)
The traveler's joy (
Clematis Vitalba
). So named from the abundant long feathery awns of its fruit.
(b)
The
Tillandsia usneoides
. See
Tillandsia
.
–
Old man's head
(Bot.)
,
a columnar cactus (
Pilocereus senilis
), native of Mexico, covered towards the top with long white hairs.
–
Old red sandstone
(Geol.)
,
a series of red sandstone rocks situated below the rocks of the Carboniferous age and comprising various strata of siliceous sandstones and conglomerates. See
Sandstone
, and the Chart of
Geology
.
–
Old school
,
a school or party belonging to a former time, or preserving the character, manner, or opinions of a former time;
as, a gentleman of the
old school
; – used also adjectively;
as,
Old-School
Presbyterians
.
–
Old sledge
,
an old and well-known game of cards, called also
all fours
, and
high, low, Jack, and the game
.
–
Old squaw
(Zool.)
,
a duck (
Clangula hyemalis
) inhabiting the northern parts of both hemispheres. The adult male is varied with black and white and is remarkable for the length of its tail. Called also
longtailed duck
,
south southerly
,
callow
,
hareld
, and
old wife
.
–
Old style
.
(Chron.)
See the Note under
Style
.
–
Old Testament
.
See
Old Testament
under
Testament
, and see
tanak
.
–
Old wife
.
[In the senses
b
and
c
written also
oldwife
.]
(a)
A prating old woman; a gossip.


Refuse profane and
old wives'
fables.
1 Tim. iv. 7.


(b)
(Zool.)
The local name of various fishes, as the European black sea bream (
Cantharus lineatus
), the American alewife, etc.
(c)
(Zool.)
A duck; the old squaw.
–
Old World
,
the Eastern Hemisphere.
Syn. – Aged; ancient; pristine; primitive; antique; antiquated; old-fashioned; obsolete. See
Ancient
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Old

OLD

, a.
1.
Advanced far in years or life; having lived beyond the middle period, or rather towards the end of life, or towards the end of the ordinary term of living; applied to animals or plants; as an old man; an old age; an old camel or horse; an old tree. This adjective is placed after the noun that designates the time lived.
Abraham was seventy five years old when he departed from Haran. Gen. 12.
2.
Having been long made or used; decayed by time; as an old garment; an old house.
3.
Being of long continuance; begun long ago; as an old acquaintance.
4.
Having been long made; not new or fresh; as old wine.
5.
Being of a former year's growth; not of the last crop; as old wheat; old hay.
6.
Ancient; that existed in former ages; as the old inhabitants of Britain; the old Romans.
7.
Of any duration whatever; as a year old; seven years old. How old art thou?
8.
subsisting before something else. He built a new house on the site of the old one. The old law is repealed by the new.
9.
Long practiced. he is grown old in vice. He is an old offender.
10.
That has been long cultivated; as old land; an old farm; opposed to new land, land lately cleared and cultivated.
11.
More than enough; great.
If a man were porter of hellgate, he should have old turning the key.
12.
In vulgar language, crafty; cunning.
Of old, long ago; from ancient times; as in days of old.
We apply old chiefly to things subject to decay. We never say, the old sun, or an old mountain.

Definition 2024

old

old

See also: öld, ǫld, øld, and 'old

English

Alternative forms

Adjective

old ‎(comparative older or elder, superlative oldest or eldest)

an old building.
  1. Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
    an old abandoned building;  an old friend‎
    • 1879, Richard Jefferies, The Amateur Poacher, chapter1:
      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.
    1. Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years.
      a wrinkled old man‎
    2. Of a perishable item, having existed for most, or more than its shelf life.
      an old loaf of bread‎
  2. Of an item that has been used and so is not new (unused).
    I find that an old toothbrush is good to clean the keyboard with.‎
  3. 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.‎
  4. (heading) Of an earlier time.
    1. Former, previous.
      My new car is not as good as my old one.  a school reunion for Old Etonians‎
      • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 8, in The Celebrity:
        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.
    2. That is no longer in existence.
      The footpath follows the route of an old railway line.‎
    3. Obsolete; out-of-date.
      That is the old way of doing things; now we do it this way.‎
    4. Familiar.
      When he got drunk and quarrelsome they just gave him the old heave-ho.‎
  5. Tiresome.
    Your constant pestering is getting old.‎
  6. Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over time.
  7. A grammatical intensifier, often used in describing something positive. (Mostly in idioms like good old, big old and little old, any old and some old.)
    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.‎
  8. (obsolete) Excessive, abundant.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

old pl ‎(plural only)

  1. (with "the") 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.

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: where · those · own · #105: old · came · men · come

Anagrams

German Low German

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle Low German ôlt, from Old Saxon ald, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz. 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. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *altós, *h₂eltós ‎(“grow, nourish”), from *h₂el- ‎(“grow, nourish”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɔːɫt/

Adjective

old ‎(comparative öller, superlative öllst)

  1. old

Declension

Comparative forms of old
gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter all genders
predicative he is öller se is öller dat is öller se sünd öller
partitive een öllers een öllers wat öllers allens öller
strong declension
(without article)		 nominative öllere öllere öller öllere
oblique öllern öllere öller öllere
weak declension
(with definite article)		 nominative de öllere de öllere dat öllere de öllern
oblique den öllern de öllere dat öllere de öllern
mixed declension
(with indefinite article)		 nominative en öllere en öllere en öller (keen) öllern
oblique en öllern en öllere en öller (keen) öllern

Hungarian

Etymology

From Proto-Finno-Ugric *aŋa- ‎(“to loosen, open (up), untie”) [1] +‎ -d ‎(“frequentative suffix”). [2]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈold]

Verb

old

  1. (transitive) to solve
  2. (transitive) to untie

Conjugation

Derived terms

(With verbal prefixes):

  • elold
  • felold
  • kiold
  • leold
  • megold

References

  1. ↑ Entry #16 in Uralonet, online Uralic etymological database of the Research Institute for Linguistics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
  2. ↑ Gábor Zaicz, Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, ISBN 963 7094 01 6

Middle Low German

Adjective

old

  1. Alternative spelling of ôlt.

Etymology

From Middle English old, ald, from Old English ald, eald ‎(“old, aged, ancient, antique, primeval”), 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(key): /əʊld/, /ɔʊld/
  • (US) enPR: ōld, IPA(key): /oʊld/
  • Rhymes: -əʊld

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