eld·er
1 (ĕĺdər)
[Middle English eldre, from Old English eldra.]
adjective
- Greater than another in age or seniority.
- Superior to another or others, as in rank.
noun
- An older person.
- An older, influential member of a family, tribe, or community.
- One of the governing officers of a church, often having pastoral or teaching functions.
- Mormon Church A member of the higher order of priesthood.
derivatives
- eĺder·shiṕ
- noun
usage note
Usage Note: The adjective elder is not a synonym for elderly. In comparisons between two persons, elder means “older” but not necessarily “old”: My elder sister is sixteen; my younger, twelve. ( Eldest is used when three or more persons are compared: He is the eldest of four brothers. ) In other contexts elder does denote relatively advanced age but with the added component of respect for a person's achievement, as in an elder statesman. If age alone is to be expressed, one should use older or elderly rather than elder: A survey of older Americans; an elderly waiter. · Unlike elder and its related forms, the adjectives old, older, and oldest are applied to things as well as to persons.
el·der
2 (ĕĺdər)
[Middle English eldre, from Old English ellærn.]
noun
- Any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Sambucus, having clusters of small white flowers and red or purplish-black berrylike fruit.
