old

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[edit] English

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[edit] Etymology

Old English ald, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz (“grown-up”), originally a participle form corresponding to Latin altus. Cognate with Dutch oud, Low German old, German alt, West Frisian âld, Scots auld.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Adjective

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

  1. Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
    an old abandoned building
    an old friend
  2. Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years.
    a wrinkled old man
  3. Of a perishable item, having existed for most, or more than its shelf life
    An old loaf of bread.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
    My great-grandfather lived to be a hundred and one years old.
  6. Former, previous.
    My new car is not as good as my old one.
    a school reunion for Old Etonians
    • 1994, Michael Grumley, Life Drawing
      But over my old life, a new life had formed.
  7. That is no longer in existence
    The footpath follows the route of an old railway line.
  8. Obsolete; out-of-date.
    That is the old way of doing things; now we do it this way.
  9. Familiar.
    When he got drunk and quarrelsome they just gave him the old heave-ho.
  10. Tiresome.
    Your constant pestering is getting old.
  11. Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over time.
  12. A grammatical intensifier, often used in describing something positive.
    We're having a good old time.

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Antonyms

[edit] Derived terms

Terms derived from old

[edit] Translations

of an object, concept, etc: having existed for a relatively long period of time
of a living being: having lived for relatively many years
former
having existed or lived for the specified time
  • Catalan: translated by tenir followed by the length of time
    She’s five years old — Ella té cinc anys
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 歲, 岁 (suì)
    I am five years old - 我五歲, 我五岁(wǒ wǔ suì)
  • Czech: starý (cs)
  • Danish: gammel (da)
  • Finnish: -vuotias (fi), vanha (fi), ikäinen (fi)
  • French: translated by avoir followed by the length of time
    She’s five years old — Elle a cinq ans
    a five-year-old car — une voiture qui a cinq ans, une voiture de cinq ans
  • German: alt (de)
  • Hebrew: בֵּן (ben) m., בַּת (bat) f.
    She’s five years old — הִיא בַּת חָמֵש שָׁנִים
    a five-year-old car — מְכוֹנִית בַּת חָמֵש שָׁנִים
  • Irish: d'aois (of age)
    She’s five years old — Tá sí cúig bhliana d’aois
  • Italian: translated by avere followed by the length of time
    She’s five years old — Ha cinque anni
    a five-year-old car — una macchina che ha cinque anni
  • Korean: 먹었다 (meogeotda)
Tiresome
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Translations to be checked

[edit] Noun

old (countable and uncountable; plural old) (usually used as plural)

  1. People who are old; old beings.
  2. The older generation.

[edit] Usage notes

  • Usually used with the as in -- A civilised society should always look after the old in the community.

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Hungarian

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Verb

old

  1. to solve
  2. to untie

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Low German

[edit] Etymology

From Middle Low German from Old Saxon ald. The A became an O through the effect of the velarised L in the same manner as in Dutch oud. Cognate with Dutch oud, German alt, West Frisian âld.

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɔːɫt/

[edit] Adjective

old

  1. old

[edit] Middle Low German

[edit] Alternative forms

  • olt (more common spelling marking the pronunciation)

[edit] Etymology

From Old Saxon ald. The A became an O through the effect of the velarised L in the same manner as in Dutch oud. Cognate with Dutch oud, German alt, West Frisian âld.

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɔːɫt/

[edit] Adjective

old

  1. old

[edit] Descendants

  • Low German: old
  • Dialectal German: oll
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