elder
adjective
- born or brought forth earlier than another or others; exceeding another in age; senior; older
- Obsolete of longer standing or superior rank, position, validity, etc.
- Now Rare earlier; former; ancient
noun
- an older person
- an aged person
- a forefather; ancestor; predecessor
- an older person with some authority or dignity in a tribe or community
- an officer in an early Christian church
- in some Protestant churches, a minister; also, a member appointed to the ruling body who may also assist at Communion
- ☆ Mormon Ch. a member of the Melchizedek priesthood
noun
- any of a genus (Sambucus) of shrubs and small trees of the honeysuckle family, with compound leaves and flat-topped clusters of small white flowers followed by red or purple berries
- any of various unrelated plants, as the box elder or the marsh elder
See elder in American Heritage Dictionary 4
(ĕlˈdər)
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.
Related Forms:
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.
(ĕlˈdər)
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.
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