Eldership

eld·er ¹  (ldr)

adj.

1. Greater than another in age or seniority.

2. Superior to another or others, as in rank.

n.

1. An older person.

2. An older, influential member of a family, tribe, or community.

3. One of the governing officers of a church, often having pastoral or teaching functions.

4. Mormon Church A member of the higher order of priesthood.

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[Middle English eldre, from Old English eldra; see al-² in Indo-European roots.]

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elder·ship n.

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.

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el·der ²  (ldr)

n.

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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[Middle English eldre, from Old English ellærn.]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

eldership - the office of elder berth, billet, post, situation, position, office, place, spot - a job in an organization; "he occupied a post in the treasury"