older

older
elder, eldest, older, oldest
1. Elder and eldest mean the same as older and oldest but they are much narrower in their range of use, being applicable only to people and only as nouns or attributive adjectives (before nouns). You can say his elder brother / her sister is the eldest / John is my eldest son / but you cannot say ☒ John is elder than Paul / ☒ Which one is eldest? / ☒ Who has the elder car? In these cases, older or oldest has to be used, as it can also in the cases where elder and eldest are legitimate.
2. Elder has special uses in elder hand (in cards), elder (= senior) partner, and elder statesman, and (as a noun) is the title of lay officers of the Presbyterian Church.

Modern English usage. 2014.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Older — Студийный альбом Джорджа Май …   Википедия

  • Older — Album par George Michael Durée 58:43 Genre Rock Label DreamWorks (USA, Canada)/ Virgin (Rest Of World) Critique Allmusic Modèle:Rating 5 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Older — Álbum de George Michael Publicación 14 de mayo de 1996 Grabación 1993 a …   Wikipedia Español

  • Older — may refer to: the comparative form of old Older (album), the third studio album from George Michael (released in 1996) Older / I Can t Make You Love Me, a song from the aforementioned album Older, a song by They Might Be Giants first heard on… …   Wikipedia

  • Older — Studioalbum von George Michael Veröffentlichung 13. Mai 1996 Aufnahme 1993 1996 Label …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • older — index antique Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • older — [adj] most senior earlier, elder, eldest, first, first born, former, lower, of a former period, of an earlier time, preceding, prior, senior; concepts 578,585,797 Ant. younger …   New thesaurus

  • older — [ōl′dər] adj. 1. alt. compar. of OLD 2. between middle age and extreme old age: used as an alternative to words which may connote debility, decline, etc …   English World dictionary

  • older — adjective [ˈəʊldə,ˈoʊldɚ/ a) Elder, senior. , My older brother and I are Catholic twins. He’s older by eleven months, not quite a year older than me. b) Elderly. , The thoughtful lad helped an older lady across the street …   Wiktionary

  • older — /ohl deuhr/, adj. a comparative of old. Syn. OLDER, ELDER imply having greater age than something or someone else. OLDER is the usual form of the comparative of old: This building is older than that one. ELDER, now greatly restricted in… …   Universalium

  • older — See elder, eldest, older, oldest See old, older See older, oldest …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”