gerontolatry

English

Etymology

geronto- +‎ -latry

Noun

gerontolatry (uncountable)

1. Worship of old people.
   • 1957, Mark Lemon, Henry Mayhew, Tom Taylor, Shirley Brooks, Sir Francis Cowley Burnand, Sir Owen Seaman, Punch, Volume 232‎^[1], page 49:

     Gerontolatry, an inevitable development of the many movements afoot to make the world safe for the old folks, has had a fine fling this goodwill season, and old folks' engagement-books, to say nothing of the old folks, have been full to bursting.

   • 1989, Perceptions of Aging in Literature: A Cross-cultural Study‎^[2], page 87:

     Because Russian literature is an integral part of European literature, it shares the latter's prejudices and displays a full spectrum of those commonplaces involving old age that are so familiar in the West; certainly there is none of the gerontolatry that is a notable feature of Far Eastern, especially Chinese, culture.

   • 1991, Ephraim David, Old Age in Sparta‎^[3], page 1:

     In which senses was Spartan society gerontocratic and gerontocentric? What were the roots and the symbols and what was the extent of gerontocracy and gerontolatry at Sparta?