源etymfun
About

Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

English

old

/əʊld/
Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.

    Etymology graph

    • inherited
    • borrowed
    • derived
    • parts
    • meaning component
    • sound component
    • related
    React Flow
    Press enter or space to select a node. You can then use the arrow keys to move the node around. Press delete to remove it and escape to cancel.
    Press enter or space to select an edge. You can then press delete to remove it or escape to cancel.

    Click a node to zoom in · double-click to open it

    Origin

    Inherited from Middle English old, oold, from Old English ald, eald (“old, aged, ancient, antique, primeval”), from Proto-West Germanic *ald, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz (“grown-up”), originally a participle form, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eltós (“grown, tall, big”).

    Cognates

    Cognate with Scots aald, auld (“old”), Yola yola, yolaw, yold, yole (“old”), North Frisian ool, ual, uuil, uul, üülj (“old”), Saterland Frisian oold (“old”), West Frisian âld (“old”), Alemannic German altu, oalt, oalts, olt, àltà (“old”), Bavarian oid (“old”), Central Franconian alt, aod, auw, oot (“old”), Cimbrian and German alt (“old”), Dutch oud (“old”), German Low German old, oolt (“old”), Luxembourgish al (“old”), Mòcheno òlt (“old”), Vilamovian aołd (“old”), Yiddish אַלט (alt, “old”), Danish ældre (“elderly”), Faroese eldri (“elder, older”), Icelandic aldinn (“old”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk eldre (“elderly”), Swedish äldre (“elderly”), Crimean Gothic alt (“old”), Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌸𐌴𐌹𐍃 (alþeis, “old”), Latin altus (“high, tall, grown big, lofty”). Related to eld.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • rootProto-Indo-European*h₂el- (grow)
    • inheritedMiddle Englishold
      • inheritedOld Englishald “old”
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*ald
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*aldaz “grown-up”
            • inheritedProto-Indo-European*h₂el- “grown, tall, big”
    • derivedEnglishyoung “In the early part of growth or life; born not long ago.”
      • inheritedMiddle Englishyong
        • inheritedOld Englishġeong

    Related: Scots aald, Yola yola, North Frisian ool, Saterland Frisian oold, West Frisian âld, Alemannic German altu, Bavarian oid, Central Franconian alt, cim,de alt, Dutch oud, German Low German old, Luxembourgish al, Mòcheno òlt, Vilamovian aołd, Yiddish אַלט, Danish ældre, Faroese eldri, Icelandic aldinn, nb,nn eldre, Swedish äldre, Crimean Gothic alt, Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌸𐌴𐌹𐍃, Latin altus

    Words built on it: over-old, one-year-old, old school, Old City, old-line, old age

    Meanings

    adj
    1. Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
    2. Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years.
    3. Of a perishable item, having existed for most of, or more than, its shelf life.
    4. Of a species or language, belonging to a lineage that is distantly related to others.
    5. Having been used and thus no longer new or unused.
    6. Having existed or lived for the specified time.
    noun
    1. People who are old; old beings; the older generation, taken as a group.
    2. A person older than oneself, especially an adult in relation to a teenager.
    3. One's parents.
    4. A typically dark-coloured lager brewed by the traditional top-fermentation method.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: old