Forms: 1 (Mercian, Kent.) eldra, (Northumbrian, Mercian) ǣldra, (WSax.) ieldra, yldra, 2–3 eldere, eldre, ealdre, 3 eældre, ældre, elldre, eldore, ælder, 3–4 (heldre), uldre, ildre, 4 eilder, eldir, 5 elther, yelder, eelder, (Sc. 6 eldar, 8 ellar), 3– elder. See also ALDER, OLDER, adjs. [OE. ęldra (fem. and neut. ęldre) = OS. aldira, OFris. alder, elder, OHG. altiro, eltiro (mod.Ger. älter), ON. eldre, ellre (Da. ældre), Goth. alþiza:—OTeut. *a·lþizon-, regularly f. *alđo-, OE. ald (WS. eald), OLD.
The late WS. form yldra survived in the south as uldre (ü), ildre until the 13th c.
A. adj. The comparative degree of OLD a.; formerly equivalent to the mod. OLDER, but now restricted to certain special uses.
1. That has lived or existed longer; senior, more advanced in age.
† a. Formerly used (both of persons and things) as a predicate; also as an attribute followed by than. Now superseded by OLDER.
c. 1000. Riddles, xli. 42 (Gr.). Ic eom micle yldra, þonne ymbhwyrft þes.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 23. A þet ic beo ealdre.
c. 1200. Moral Ode (Egerton MS.), 1. Ic æm elder þænne ic wæs, a winter and a lore.
a. 1240. Wohunge, in Cott. Hom., 277. Swa þu eldere wex, swa þu pourere was.
1541. Elyot, Image Gov., 93. If she shall be as olde, or elder than I am.
1593. Bilson, Govt. Christ’s Ch., 364. The lawes of forren countries are farre elder then ours.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., IV. i. 251. How much more elder art thou then thy lookes?
a. 1639. W. Whateley, Prototypes, II. xxxiv. (1640), 160. Friendship is like wine, the elder the better, the longer it lasteth, the more it is to be praised.
1673. Cave, Prim. Chr., I. vii. 203. A custom probably not much elder than his time.
b. as attribute without than. Not now used of things, except with quasi-personification. Now chiefly with sbs. denoting family relationship, or as denoting the senior of two indicated persons; otherwise somewhat arch. Often with omission of sb. implied in the context.
Beowulf, 469 (Gr.). Wæs hereʓar dead min yldra mæʓ.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., viii. Ic ðe ʓeongne ʓelærde swelce snytro swylce maneʓum oþrum ieldran ʓewittum oftoʓen is.
c. 975. Durh. Gosp., Luke xv. 25. Wæs ða sunu his ældra on lond.
1279. R. Glouc. (1724), 367. Margarete … Þe eldore of þe tuo, in spoushod he nome.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 3861. Þe eilder sister he for-sok.
1382. Wyclif, Luke xv. 25. Forsothe his eldere sone was in the feeld.
c. 1450. Merlin, i. 5. The elther suster vndirstode hym wele.
c. 1478. Plumpton Corr., 38. The said Wil. Rycroft yelder.
1717. Lady M. W. Montague, Lett., II. xliv. 22. It is a great part of the work of the elder slaves to take care of these young girls.
1745. Wesley, Wks. (1872), VIII. 217. These are too young; send elder men.
1815. Scott, Ld. of Isles, VI. xvi. Elder brother’s care And elder brother’s love were there.
1876. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1876), IV. xvii. 47. The Cathedral Church of the bishoprick whose throne is now hidden in the elder minster of Saint Fritheswyth.
† 2. a. Of an obligation, right or title: Of longer standing, prior, that has superior validity. b. Of officials, etc.: That ranks before others by virtue of longer service; senior. Obs.
(Elder Brethren: see BROTHER 4 b).
1642. trans. Perkins’ Prof. Bk., iv. § 285. If the possession bee not devested out of them by an elder title.
1594. West, Symbol., II. Chancerie, § 139. It cannot be intended that … he would have left the elder bond … unsued for.
1721–1800. Bailey, Elder Battalion, that Battalion which was first raised, and has the post of honour according to its standing. Elder Officers, such officers whose Commissions bear the eldest Date.
† 3. Elder man: = elder sb., in senses B. 2, 3. Sometimes written as one word elderman. Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 5784 (Cotton MS.). Ga gedir samen þin eldir men.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), I. 41. Þe senatoures and elder men of Rome.
c. 1400. Apol. Loll., 2. Jerom, & Gregor take a wey þe name of þe bischop, or heldarman.
1530. Compend. Treat. (1863), 51. The prophet Moses hadde chosen seuenty eldermen.
1708. Motteux, Rabelais, IV. xxv. So they call’d their eldest Elderman.
4. In Card-playing. Elder hand: the first player. Cf. ELDEST 5.
1589. Pappe w. Hatchet, C iiij. The poore Church should play at vnequal game, for it should loose al by the Elder hand.
1746. Hoyle, Whist (ed. 6), 22. You are elder Hand.
1873. ‘Cavendish’ [H. Jones], Piquet, 29. The pack is then cut by the non-dealer, or elder hand.
† 5. Of or pertaining to a more advanced period of life; later. Obs.
(In this sense elder days are the opposite of the elder days of sense 6, just as an older portrait has a younger face.)
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., II. iii. 43. I tender you my seruice raw and young; Which elder dayes shall ripen. Ibid. (1611), Cymb., V. i. 14. To second illes with illes, each elder worse.
1737. Whiston, Josephus’ Ant., XVI. xi. 8. He also was guilty of … a crime in his elder age.
6. a. That existed at a previous time; ancient, earlier, former. b. Of or pertaining to ancient times or to an earlier period.
c. 1340. Cursor M., App. i. p. 1636. 23876. We … in eldern men vr mirur se.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., II. x. 202. In eeldir daies, whanne processioun was mad.
1587. Mirr. Mag., Induction, xii. 7. What thinges were done, in elder times of olde.
1668. Hale, Pref. Rolle’s Abridgm., 8. Many of the Elder Year-Books are Filled with Law, now not so much in use.
1801. Southey, Thalaba, IX. ix. Huge as the giant race of elder times.
1823. Lamb, Elia, Ser. II. i. (1865), 242. Curiosity prevailing over elder devotion.
1852. Miss Yonge, Cameos, I. Introd. 2. The elder England has been so fully written of.
1867. Macfarren, Harmony, ii. 35. Modern writers … may produce compositions in the elder style.
7. Comb. as elder-born adj.; elder-brotherhood, the state or dignity of an elder brother; elder brotherly, -sisterly a., pertaining or proper to an elder brother or sister.
1870. Bryant, Iliad, II. XV. 81. *Elder-born am I.
1884. H. D. Traill, in Littell’s Living Age, No. 2077. 66/2. Its *elder-brotherhood with human shift Writ on the face of its perfected plan.
1823. Bentham, Not Paul, 370, note. This … assumed fatherly affection, under the name of *elder brotherly … what was it?
1870. Miss Bridgman, R. Lynne, II. viii. 163. ‘So I told them,’ said Fanny, with a demure, *elder-sisterly air.
B. sb. An elder person, lit. and fig.
† 1. A parent [cf. mod.G. eltern pl.]; an ancestor, forefather; hence, in wider sense, a predecessor, one who lived in former days. Almost exclusively in pl. Obs.
971. Blickl. Hom., 195. Ure yldran swultan and swiþe oft us from wendan.
a. 1000. Elene, 462 (Gr.). Þa me yldra min ageaf andsware.
a. 1067. Chart. Eadweard, in Cod. Dipl., IV. 167. For mines fader and for allra minra yldrena sawlan.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 123. Helle … we weren in bifolen þurh ure eldra gult.
c. 1205. Lay., 7290. Þet me mine ældre [1275 eldre] dude scome.
c. 1230. Hali Meid., 27. Feire children … gladien muchel þe ealdren.
1297. R. Glouc. (1724), 11. Here elderne … were y nome in ostage Fram the bataile of Troie.
c. 1325. Metr. Hom., 109. Underlout till thaim was he, Als god child au til elderes be.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. IV. 419. Þat agag of amalek · and al hus lyge puple Sholde deye delfulliche · for dedes of here eldren.
c. 1440. York Myst., XXVII. 14. That with oure elthers euer has bene.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, VII. iv. 44. And sett himselfe amyde his elderis trone.
1535. Coverdale, John ix. 18. They called the elders of him that had receaued his sight.
1557. N. T. (Genev.), 2 Tim. i. 3. I thanke God, whome I serue from myne elders with pure conscience.
† b. transf. (see quot.) Obs.
1719. London & Wise, Compl. Gard., vi. 115. Some [branches] shoot directly out of the main Body … and may be called Elders, or Mothers.
2. (A person’s) superior in age, senior. Almost exclusively in pl.
c. 1200. Ormin, 13215. He þatt iss þin elldre.
c. 1340. Cursor M., 12092. To his eldre worship drawe.
c. 1420. Pallad. on Husb., I. 125. That yonger men obeye unto thaire eldron.
1552. Abp. Hamilton, Catech. (1884), 36. Ic haif had … understanding aboue my eldaris.
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., II. 7. So well I know my duty to my elders.
1737. Pope, Hor. Epist., II. i. 117. If our elders break all reason’s laws.
1801. W. D. Rolfe, in Med. Jrnl., V. 411. I … leave my elders to judge of them.
1848. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 47. The child who teachably and undoubtingly listens to the instructions of his elders is likely to improve rapidly.
1864. Tennyson, Enoch Arden, 375. While all the younger ones with jubilant cries Broke from their elders.
b. A person advanced in life.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., II. iv. 281. The wither’d Elder hath his Poll claw’d like a Parrot.
1638. G. Sandys, Paraph. Job, 36 (J.). From their Seats the reverend Elders rose.
1884. Illustr. Lond. News, 20 Sept., 268/12. The three elders, his companions in this terrible adventure, are now brought home.
3. A member of a ‘senate,’ governing body or class, consisting of men venerable for age, or conventionally supposed to be so. Now chiefly Hist.
Orig. as transl. of the seniores of the Vulgate, rendering the Heb. z’qēnīm (lit. ‘old men’). Cf. the equivalent Gr. γέροντες.
1382. Wyclif, Deut. xix. 12. The aldren [MS. C. elderes; 1388 oldere men] of that citee shulen seende.
1535. Coverdale, Susanna 50. The elders (that is the principall heades) sayde. Ibid., 1 Macc. xi. 31. The lettre which we dyd wryte vnto oure elder Lasthenus.
1607. Shaks., Cor., I. i. 230. See our best Elders.
1611. Bible, Ruth iv. 9. Boaz saide vnto the Elders, and vnto all the people.
1715–20. Pope, Iliad, XVIII. 586. The reverend elders nodded o’er the case.
1815. Elphinstone, Acc. Caubul (1842), I. 221. To which the chief and elders always lend their weight.
1870. Gladstone, Prim. Homer (1878), 116. They bear the general appellation of gerontes, elders, as well as kings.
4. In ecclesiastical use. A literal rendering of Gr. πρεσβύτερος, the title given to a certain order or class of office-bearers in the early Christian Church. The Gr. word was adopted in ecclesiastical Latin as presbyter, and its historical representative in Eng. is PRIEST. In certain Protestant churches, chiefly those called Presbyterian, the Eng. word elder (with presbyter as an occasional synonym) is used as the designation of a class of officers intended to correspond in function to the ‘elders’ of the apostolic church.
In the Presbyterian churches the term elders includes the clergy (for distinction called ‘teaching elders’), but in ordinary language it is restricted to the lay or ruling elders, who are chosen in each parish or congregation to act with the minister in the management of church affairs.
[1382. Wyclif, Acts xv. 6. And apostlis and eldre men camen to gidere.]
1526. Tindale, Titus i. 5. That thou … shuldest ordeyne elders [Wyclif, preestis] in every citie.
1579. Tomson, Calvin’s Serm. Tim., 237/2. Seing ye Church is compared to a flocke,… the word shepeherde signifieth an Elder, not by age, but by office.
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., III. xlii. 289. Timothy was an Elder.
1719. D’Urfey, Pills (1872), II. 288. When their Bishops are pulled down, Our Elders shall be sainted.
1760. T. Hutchinson, Hist. Col. Mass., iv. (1765), 426. Most of the churches, not all, had one or more ruling elder.
1794. Burns, Robin shure in hairst. Robin … Play’d me sic a trick, And me the eller’s dochter.
1846. M’Culloch, Acc. Brit. Empire (1854), II. 285. The Kirk Session is … composed of the minister of the parish and of lay-elders. New elders are chosen by the Session.
1858. Longf., M. Standish, 31. The excellent Elder of Plymouth.
5. Comb., as elder-like adv.
1640. Witt’s Recreat., in Southey, Comm.-pl. Bk., Ser. II. (1849), 314/1. Now most Elder-like he can Behave himself.
1795. Southey, Joan of Arc, III. 542. Fathers of the church … what! elder-like Would ye this fairer than Susannah eye?
