old

old  (ld)

adj. old·er, old·est

1.

a. Having lived or existed for a relatively long time; far advanced in years or life.

b. Relatively advanced in age: Pamela is our oldest child.

2. Made long ago; in existence for many years: an old book.

3. Of or relating to a long life or to people who have had long lives: a ripe old age.

4. Having or exhibiting the physical characteristics of age: a prematurely old face.

5. Having or exhibiting the wisdom of age; mature: a child who is old for his years.

6. Having lived or existed for a specified length of time: She was 12 years old.

7.

a. Belonging to a remote or former period in history; ancient: old fossils.

b. Belonging to or being of an earlier time: her old classmates.

8. often Old Being the earlier or earliest of two or more related objects, stages, versions, or periods.

9. Geology

a. Having become slower in flow and less vigorous in action. Used of a river.

b. Having become simpler in form and of lower relief. Used of a landform.

10. Exhibiting the effects of time or long use; worn: an old coat.

11. Known through long acquaintance; long familiar: an old friend.

12. Skilled or able through long experience; practiced.

13. often ol' (l)

a. Used as an intensive: Come back any old time. Don't give me any ol' excuse.

b. Used to express affection or familiarity: Good ol' Sam.

n.

1. An individual of a specified age: a five-year-old.

2. Old people considered as a group. Used with the: caring for the old.

3. Former times; yore: in days of old.

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

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oldness n.

Synonyms: old, ancient¹, archaic, antediluvian, antique, antiquated
These adjectives describe what belongs to or dates from an earlier time or period. Old is the most general term: old lace; an old saying.
Ancient pertains to the distant past: "the hills,/Rock-ribbed, and ancient as the sun" William Cullen Bryant.
Archaic implies a very remote, often primitive period: an archaic Greek bronze of the seventh century b.c.
Antediluvian applies to what is extremely outdated: "a branch of one of your antediluvian families" William Congreve.
Antique is applied to what is especially appreciated or valued because of its age: antique furniture; an antique vase.
Antiquated describes what is out of date, no longer fashionable, or discredited: "No idea is so antiquated that it was not once modern. No idea is so modern that it will not someday be antiquated" Ellen Glasgow.

Usage Note: Old is the bluntest of the adjectives most commonly used in referring to advanced or advancing age. It generally suggests at least a degree of age-related infirmity, and for that reason it is often avoided in formal or polite speech. Many prefer elderly as a more neutral and respectful term, but it too can suggest frailty, especially in reference to individuals as opposed to a group or population. And while senior enjoys wide usage as both a noun and adjective in many civic or social contexts, it is often considered unpleasantly euphemistic in a phrase such as the senior couple living next door.·As a comparative form, older would logically seem to indicate greater age than old. Except when a direct comparison is being made, however, the opposite is generally true. The older man in the tweed jacket suggests a somewhat younger or more vigorous man than if one substitutes old or elderly. Where old expresses an absolute, an arrival at old age, older takes a more relative view of aging as a continuumolder, but not yet old. As such, older is more than just a euphemism for the blunter old, offering as it does a more precise term for someone between middle and advanced age. And unlike elderly, older does not particularly suggest frailness or infirmity, making it the natural choice in many situations. See Usage Note at elder¹.

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old

Adjective

1. having lived or existed for a long time: the old woman, burning witches is one old custom I've no desire to see revived

2. of or relating to advanced years or a long life: I twisted my knee as I tried to squat and cursed old age

3. worn with age or use: the old bathroom fittings

4. having lived or existed for a specified period: he is 60 years old

5. the earlier or earliest of two or more things with the same name: the old edition, the Old Testament

6. designating the form of a language in which the earliest known records are written: Old English

7. familiar through long acquaintance or repetition: an old acquaintance, the legalization argument is an old and familiar one

8. dear: used as a term of affection or familiarity: always rely on old Tom to turn out

9. out of date; unfashionable

10. former or previous: my old housekeeper lent me some money

11. of long standing: he's an old and respected member of staff

12. good old days an earlier period of time regarded as better than the present

Noun

an earlier or past time: in days of old [Old English eald]

oldish adj

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	old - past times (especially in the phrase `in days of old') past, past times, yesteryear - the time that has elapsed; "forget the past"
Adj.	1.	old - (used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age; "his mother is very old"; "a ripe old age"; "how old are you?" experienced, experient - having experience; having knowledge or skill from observation or participation mature - having reached full natural growth or development; "a mature cell" senior - older; higher in rank; longer in length of tenure or service; "senior officer" young, immature - (used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth; "young people"
	2.	old - of long duration; not new; "old tradition"; "old house"; "old wine"; "old country"; "old friendships"; "old money" noncurrent - not current or belonging to the present time stale - lacking freshness, palatability, or showing deterioration from age; "stale bread"; "the beer was stale" nonmodern - not modern; of or characteristic of an earlier time past - earlier than the present time; no longer current; "time past"; "his youth is past"; "this past Thursday"; "the past year" worn - affected by wear; damaged by long use; "worn threads on the screw"; "a worn suit"; "the worn pockets on the jacket" new - not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered; "a new law"; "new cars"; "a new comet"; "a new friend"; "a new year"; "the New World"
	3.	old - (used for emphasis) very familiar; "good old boy"; "same old story" familiar - well known or easily recognized; "a familiar figure"; "familiar songs"; "familiar guests"
	4.	old - skilled through long experience; "an old offender"; "the older soldiers" older experienced, experient - having experience; having knowledge or skill from observation or participation
	5.	old - belonging to some prior time; "erstwhile friend"; "our former glory"; "the once capital of the state"; "her quondam lover" one-time, onetime, quondam, sometime, erstwhile, former past - earlier than the present time; no longer current; "time past"; "his youth is past"; "this past Thursday"; "the past year"
	6.	old - (used informally especially for emphasis); "a real honest-to-god live cowboy"; "had us a high old time"; "went upriver to look at a sure-enough fish wheel" honest-to-god, honest-to-goodness, sure-enough echt, genuine - not fake or counterfeit; "a genuine Picasso"; "genuine leather"
	7.	Old - of a very early stage in development; "Old English is also called Anglo Saxon"; "Old High German is High German from the middle of the 9th to the end of the 11th century" linguistics - the scientific study of language early - of an early stage in the development of a language or literature; "the Early Hebrew alphabetical script is that used mainly from the 11th to the 6th centuries B.C."; "Early Modern English is represented in documents printed from 1476 to 1700"
	8.	old - just preceding something else in time or order; "the previous owner"; "my old house was larger" previous preceding - existing or coming before

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old

adjective 1. aged, elderly, ancient, getting on, grey, mature, past it (informal) venerable, patriarchal, grey-haired, antiquated, over the hill (informal) senile, grizzled, decrepit, hoary, senescent, advanced in years, full of years, past your prime << OPPOSITE young

adjective 2. tumbledown, ruined, crumbling, decayed, shaky, disintegrating, worn-out, done, tottering, ramshackle, rickety, decrepit, falling to pieces

adjective 3. worn, ragged, shabby, frayed, cast-off, tattered, tatty, threadbare

4. out of date, old-fashioned, dated, passé, antique, outdated, obsolete, archaic, unfashionable, antiquated, outmoded, behind the times, superannuated, out of style, antediluvian, out of the ark (informal) démodé (French) << OPPOSITE up-to-date

adjective 5. former, earlier, past, previous, prior, one-time, erstwhile, late, quondam, whilom (archaic) ex-

6. long-standing, established, fixed, enduring, abiding, long-lasting, long-established, time-honoured

adjective 7. early, ancient, original, remote, of old, antique, aboriginal, primitive, archaic, gone by, bygone, undeveloped, primordial, primeval, immemorial, of yore, olden (archaic) pristine

adjective 8. stale, common, commonplace, worn-out, banal, threadbare, trite, old hat, insipid, hackneyed, overused, repetitious, unoriginal, platitudinous, cliché-ridden, timeworn

adjective 9. long-established, seasoned, experienced, tried, tested, trained, professional, skilled, expert, master, qualified, familiar, capable, veteran, practised, accomplished, vintage, versed, hardened, competent, skilful, adept, knowledgeable, age-old, of long standing, well-versed

adjective 10. customary, established, traditional, conventional, historic, long-established, time-honoured, of long standing see see, senile

Translations

old [əuld] adj → viejo;

(former) → antiguo;

how old are you? → ¿cuántos años tienes?, ¿qué edad tienes?;

he's 10 years old → tiene 10 años;

older brother → hermano mayor;

any old thing will do → sirve cualquier cosa

old [əuld] adj → vieux(vieille); [person] → vieux, âgé(e) (= former); ancien(ne) → vieux;

how old are you? → quel âge avez-vous?;

he's 10 years old → il a 10 ans, il est âgé de 10 ans;

older brother/sister → frère/sœur aîné(e);

any old thing will do → n'importe quoi fera l'affaire

old [əuld] adj → alt;

how old are you? → wie alt bist du?;

he's 10 years old → er ist 10 Jahre alt;

older brother → ältere(r) Bruder;

any old thing will do for him → ihm ist alles recht

old [əuld] adj → vecchio/a (= ancient); antico/a, vecchio/a; [person] → vecchio/a, anziano/a;

how old are you? → quanti anni ha?;

he's 10 years old → ha 10 anni;

older brother/sister → fratello/sorella maggiore;

any old thing will do → va bene qualsiasi cosa

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old

adj old [əuld]

1 advanced in age an old man; He is too old to live alone.oudعَجوز، مُسِنвъзрастенstarýgammelaltηλικιωμένοςviejo, mayorvanaپیر؛ مسنvanhavieuxזָקֵןपुरानाstaröregtuagamallvecchio年老いた나이 많은senas, senyvasvecstuaoudgammelstaryvelhobătrânстарыйstarýstarstargammalที่มีอายุมากyaşlı, ihtiyar年老的старийبوڑھاgià年老的

2 having a certain age He is thirty years old.oudمن العُمْر، عُمْرُهвъзрастstarýgammelaltηλικίαςde edadvanaسال؛ ...سالهvanhaâgé deבֵּן-वृद्धstar, u dobi... évesberumurgamall(di età)～歳の...살의amžiausvecstahunoudgammelw wiekude idadeîn vârstă deвозрастаstarýstarstargammalอายุ... yaşında, ... yaşta人...歲при вказівці на вікعمر والاtuổi人...岁

3 having existed for a long time an old building; Those trees are very old.ou, oudقَديمстарstarýgammelaltπαλιόςviejo, antiguovanaقدیمیvanhavieuxמְבוגָרपुरानाstarrégituagamallvecchio古い오래된senasvecs; senslamaoudgammelstaryvelhovechiстарыйstarýstarstargammalเก่าแก่eski, eskimiş年久的старийپراناgià dặn年久的

4 no longer useful She threw away the old shoes.ouعَتيق، بالٍнепотребенstarýgammelaltπαλιός, άχρηστοςviejovanaفرسوده؛ از کار افتادهvanhavieuxיָשָןपुरानाstaridejétmúltusanggamall, notaðurvecchio使い古した낡은senasvecs; nolietotslamaoudavlagt, gammelstaryvelhoînvechitстарыйstarýstarstargammalเก่าeski, eskimiş破舊的зношенийناقابل استعمالcũ kỹ破旧的

5 belonging to times long ago old civilizations like that of Greece.قَديمдревенstarý, dávnýgammelvergangenαρχαίοςantiguomuistneباستانی؛ قدیمیmuinainenancienעַתִיקप्राचिन, प्राचिन काल का, बीहुकालिकstarhajdanikunofornantico昔の고대의, 왕년의senovės, senų laikųsenslamaoudtidligere, gammel, forhenværendestarożytnyantigostrăvechiдревнийstarý, dávnystarstargammalนานมาแล้วeski古老的давнійقديمngày xưa古老的

old age

the later part of a person's life He wrote most of his poems in his old age.die ouderdom, oudag, grysheidشَيْخوخَهкъсна възрастstáříalderdomhohes Alterγηρατειάvejezvanaduspõlvپیریvanhuusvieillesseזִקנָהबुढ़ापा, वृद्धावस्थाstarostöregkor(i)usia tuagamals aldur, ellivecchiaia老年노년senatvėvecumstuaouderdomalderdomzaawansowany/podeszły wiekvelhicebătrâ­neţeстаростьstarobastaroststarostålderdom[]ช่วงหลังของชีวิตyaşlılık, ihtiyarlık晚年старістьبڑھاپاlúc tuổi già晚年

old boy/girl

a former pupil (of a school) The new prime minister is an old boy of our school.oudleerlingتِلْميذ سابِق في مدرَسَةٍ ماбившbývalý, -á žák, -yněgammel elevfrüherer Schüler/ frühere Schülerinπαλιός μαθητήςex alumno; ex alumnavilistlaneدانش آموز پیشینentinen koulutoveriancien/-ienne élèveחָבֵר לְסָפסָל הַלִימוּדִים בְּעָבַרभूतपूर्व छात्रbivši učeniköregdiákbekas muridfyrrverandi nemandi (í tilteknum skóla)ex allievo/alunno, ex allieva/alunna卒業生졸업생buvęs moksleivisbijušais skolasbiedrs/klasesbiedrsbekas penuntutoudleerlingtidligere elevbyły uczeńantigo alunoбывший ученик/бывшая ученицаbývalý, -á žiak / žiačkabivši učenecstari đakgammal (före detta) elevนักเรียนเก่าeski öğrenci老同學однокашникابنائے قديم، ادارہ کا سابق طالب علمcựu học sinh老同学

adj ˌold-ˈfashioned

in a style common some time ago old-fashioned clothes; Her hairstyle is very old-fashioned.outydsعَتيق الطِّراز، بَطُلَ إسْتِعْمالُهстаромоденstaromódnígammeldagsaltmodischπαλιομοδίτικος, ξεπερασμένοςanticuado, pasado de modavanamoodneاز مد افتادهvanhanaikainendémodéשַׁמרָנִיपुरानी चाल काstaromodanódivatúkunogamaldagsfuorimoda, antiquato時代遅れの구식의senamadisvecmodīgsketinggalan zamanouderwetsgammeldagsstaromodnyfora de modademodatстаромодныйstaromódnystaromodenzastareogammalmodigที่ล้าสมัยeski moda老式的старомоднийپراني وضع کاlạc mốt老式的

old hand

a person who is very experienced He's an old hand at this sort of job.bedrewe weesخَبير، ذو تَجْرِبَهопитенstarý rutinérgammel rotteein alter Haseπαλιά καραβάνα, άνθρωπος με μακρόχρονη πείραveterano, expertovilunud meesبا تجربهkokenut tekijävieux routierוָתִיק וּמנוּסֶהअनुभवी व्यक्तिstari lisac(tapasztalt) vén rókaorang berpengalamangamall í hettunni, vanurveterano, (vecchio del mestiere)熟練者노련한[] 사람senas vilkaszinātājs; pratējs; speciālistsorang yg berpengalamaniemand met ervaringdreven, erfarenstary wygaveteranoom expe­rimentatопытный работникstarý macherstar mačekiskusan čovekgammal i gametผู้เชี่ยวชาญtecrübeli kimse老手бувалий; докаکہنہ مشق، ماہرlão luyện老手

old maid

an unmarried woman who is past the usual age of marriage. oujongnooiعانِس، فاتَها وقت الزَّواجстара момаstará pannapebermøalte Jungferανύπαντρη γυναίκαsolteronavanatüdrukدختر ترشیدهvanhapiikavieille filleבְּתוּלָה זְקֵנָהअविवाहित महिला, रूखा आदमी, रूखी औरतusidjelicavénkisasszonyperawan tuapiparmeyzitellaオールドミス노처녀senmergėvecmeitaanak dara tuaoude vrijsterpeppermø, gammel jomfrustara pannasolteironafată bătrânăстарая деваstará dievkastara devicausedelicagammal ungmöผู้หญิงที่อยู่เป็นโสดไปจนแก่evde kalmış kız老處女стара дівка, перестарокبڑي عمر کي غير شادي شدہ عورتgái già老处女

the old

old people hospitals for the old.bejaardesالمُسِنّون، كِبار السِّنвъзрастниstaří lidéde ældredie Alten (pl.)οι ηλικιωμένοιlas personas mayores, los ancianosvanainimesedسالمندانvanhuksetles gens âgésהַקְשִישִיםवृद्ध लोगbolnica za starije ljudeaz öregekorang tuaaldraðiri vecchi老人노인들seni žmonės, seneliaivecie []org tuabejaardeneldre (mennesker)starsi ludzieos velhosbă­trâniiстарикиstarí ľudiastari ljudjestari ljudigamla människor, åldringarผู้สูงอายุyaşlılar, ihtiyarlar老年人старіبوڑھے لوگngười già老年人