Obs. [repr. OE. (WS.) ealdnyss, f. eald, ELD, OLD a. + -NESS: see OLDNESS.]
a. Oldness, old age. b. A former state of things, antiquity.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., I. 194 (Bosw.). We awurþon ða deriʓendlican ealdnysse.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), I. 7. Storie is … messager of eldnesse.
1388. Wyclif, Isa. xxiii. 18. Thei be … clothid to eldnesse. Ibid., Ezek. xvi. 55. Thi sister Sodom and her doȝtris shulen turne aȝen to her eldnesse.
