Noun
(uncountable)
- Authority; dominion.
- Preeminence; superiority.
- The authority, rule, or office of an elder.
- The state of being an elder, or of being older; elderhood.
- The role or influence of an elder or elders.
Origin
From Middle English *elderdom, alderdom, from Old English ealdordōm (“greatness, power, authority, lordship, eldership, rule, dominion, magistracy, principality, superiority, preeminence, primacy, government, any official position involving command of others, beginning”), equivalent to elder + -dom. Cognate with West Frisian âlderdom (“eld, old age, antiquity”), Swedish ålderdom (“eld, age”).
