elder

• n. 老人；长辈；年长者；父辈
• adj. 年长的；年龄较大的；资格老的
• n. (Elder)人名；(英、德、法、土、葡)埃尔德

来自old的比照级。

elder

elder: Elder ‘older’ [OE] is not, of course, the same word as elder the tree-name [OE]. The former began life in prehistoric Germanic as *althizon, the comparative form of *althaz ‘old’. Gradually, the vowel i had an effect on the preceding vowel a, and by Old English times the word had become eldra – hence modern English elder. The regularized form older appeared in the 16th century. The derivative elderly dates from the 17th century. The tree-name comes from Old English ellærn, a word whose origin is not known for certain (although it may perhaps be related to English alder). The intrusive d began to appear in the 14th century.
=> old

elder (adj.)

"more old," Old English (Mercian) eldra, comparative of eald, ald (see old); only English survival of umlaut in comparison. Superseded by older since 16c. Elder statesman (1921) originally was a translation of Japanese genro (plural).

elder (n.2)

type of berry tree, c. 1400, with excrescent -d- from earlier ellen, from Old English ellæn, ellærn "elderberry tree," origin unknown, perhaps related to alder, which at any rate might be the source of the -d-. Common Germanic, cognates: Old Saxon elora, Middle Low German elre, Old High German elira, German Eller, Erle. Related: Elderberry.

elder (n.1)

"elderly person, senior citizen," c. 1200, from Old English eldra "older person, parent; ancestor; chief, prince" (used in biblical translation for Greek presbyter); see elder (adj.). Compare German Eltern, Danish forældre, Swedish föräldrar "parents." The Old English for "grandfather" was ealdfæder.

来自柯林斯例句

2. He is now an elder of the village church.

他现在是乡村教会的长老。

来自柯林斯例句

3. She used to play games of make-believe with her elder sister.

她过去常跟姐姐玩扮家家的游戏。

来自柯林斯例句

4. the elder of their two sons

他们的两个儿子中年纪大的那个

来自《权威词典》

5. an elder statesman of golf

高尔夫球的元老

来自《权威词典》