auld

See also: Auld

English

Alternative forms

• aud, aul, oul, oul', ould

Etymology

From Scots auld or from Northern Middle English auld, aulde, awld, awlde, ald, alde, from Northumbrian Old English ald, variant of Old English eald (“old, mature, venerable; antique, ancient, primeval”), from Proto-West Germanic *ald, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz (“grown up; old”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eltós (“grown, nourished, matured”). Compare cognate Latin altus (“nourished, raised, grown; tall”). Doublet of old.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /oʊld/

  • Audio (General American):

    (file)

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əʊld/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ɑːld/
• (Liverpool) IPA^(key): /aːʊl/
• Rhymes: -əʊld
• Homophone: old

Adjective

auld (comparative aulder, superlative auldest)

1. (archaic outwith Northern England, Liverpool, Scotland, Ireland) Old.
   • 2004, Victoria Moran, “December 27: The Burning Bowl”, in Younger by the Day: 365 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Body and Revitalize Your Spirit, [San Francisco, Calif.]: HarperSanFrancisco, →ISBN, page 428:

     To prepare for the burning bowl, each person writes on slips of paper those negative traits or situations they would like to be rid of in the year to come. Examples might be, […] “Proclivity for attracting Messrs. Wrong”—anything that needs to go in the auld acquaintance category and be never brought to mind.

Synonyms

• aged, eldern, hoary; see also Thesaurus:old

Related terms

• alderman
• auld birkie
• aulden
• auldfarrand
• auld-fashioned
• auld lang syne
• auld-warld
• auld wives' tongues
• eld
• elder
• old

Further reading

• “auld”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “auld”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “auld”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “auld”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Auld”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume I (A–B), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 564, column 2.
• William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914), “auld”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, revised edition, volume I, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 381, column 1.

Anagrams

• Daul, Dula, dual, laud, udal

Scots

Alternative forms

• ald, aald, aal, aul', aul, ould

Etymology

From Northern Middle English auld, aulde, awld, awlde, ald, alde, from Northumbrian Old English ald, variant of Old English eald (“old, mature, venerable; antique, ancient, primeval”), from Proto-West Germanic *ald, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz (“grown up; old”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eltós (“grown, nourished, matured”). Compare cognate Latin altus (“nourished, raised, grown; tall”).

Pronunciation

• (Central Scots, Southern Scots) IPA^(key): /ɔl(d)/
• (Doric Scots, Southern Scots, cat-caught merger) IPA^(key): /al(d)/

Adjective

auld (comparative aulder, superlative auldest)

1. old

Derived terms

• Auld Clootie
• Auld Enemy
• auld lang syne
• auld manny
• Auld Reekie
• auld-farrant
• auld-fashioned
• auld-warld
• aulden
• auldness
• auldrife

Further reading

• “auld”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “auld”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.