different between alder vs elder

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English alder, aller, from Old English alor, from Proto-West Germanic *alu?u, from Proto-Germanic *aluz, *alus? (compare Swedish al, Saterland Frisian äller(boom)), variant of *aliz?, *alis? (compare Dutch els, German Erle, Norwegian or), from Proto-Indo-European *h?élis- (compare Hittite [script needed] (alanza(n)), Latin alnus, Latvian al?ksnis, Polish olcha, Albanian halë (“black pine”), Ancient Macedonian (Hesychius) ????? (áliza, “white poplar”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /???ld?/
• (US, Canada)
  • (without cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /??ld?/
  • (with cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /??ld?/

Noun

alder (plural alders)

1. Any of several trees or shrubs of the genus Alnus, belonging to the birch family.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Clipping of alderman.

Noun

alder (plural alders)

1. An alderman or alderwoman.

Anagrams

• Adler, Alred, Eldar, Leard, Radel, Radle, lader, lared

Danish

Etymology

From Old Danish aldær, from Old Norse aldr, from Proto-Germanic *aldr?.

Noun

alder c (singular definite alderen, plural indefinite aldre)

1. age

Inflection

Derived terms

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse aldr, from Proto-Germanic *aldr?. Akin to ale (“to raise”), from ala.

Noun

alder m (definite singular alderen, indefinite plural aldere or aldre or aldrer, definite plural alderne or aldrene)

1. age

Derived terms

References

• “alder” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse aldr, from Proto-Germanic *aldr?. Akin to ale (“to raise”), from ala.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??ld?r/

Noun

alder m (definite singular alderen, indefinite plural aldrar, definite plural aldrane)

1. age

Derived terms

References

• “alder” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Swedish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse allr, from Proto-Germanic *allaz.

Adjective

alder

1. all
2. whole, complete

Declension

Descendants

• Swedish: all

Etymology 2

From Old Norse aldr, from Proto-Germanic *aldr?.

Noun

alder m

1. lifetime
2. age; how old someone or something is
3. age, era
4. old age

Declension

Descendants

• Swedish: ålder

English

Pronunciation

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /?eld?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??ld?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??ld?/
• Rhymes: -?ld?(r)

Etymology 1

From Middle English eldre, from Old English eldra, yldra, ieldra, from Proto-Germanic *alþizô. The vowel change from a to e triggered by the following i is called umlaut or I-mutation.

Adjective

elder

1. comparative degree of old: older, greater than another in age or seniority.

   The elder of the two was also an elder statesman

Usage notes

• The normal comparative of old is older. The irregular form elder is sometimes used with family members, but is otherwise rare (except in fixed expressions such as elder statesman). Elder is generally limited to attributive position (my elder brother) and does not occur in predicative position (*my brother is elder). This also implies that elder cannot be followed by than.

Synonyms

• geriatric, long in the tooth, on in years; see also Thesaurus:elderly

Translations

Noun

elder (plural elders)

1. An older person or an older member, usually a leader, of some community.

2. One who is older than another.

3. One who lived at an earlier period; a predecessor.
4. An officer of a church, sometimes having teaching responsibilities.
5. A clergyman authorized to administer all the sacraments.

6. (US, Mormonism) One ordained to the lowest office in the Melchizedek priesthood.

7. (US, Mormonism) Male missionary.

8. (Mormonism, often capitalized) Title for a male missionary; title for a general authority.

9. (Germanic paganism) A pagan or Heathen priest or priestess.

Synonyms

• (older person): eld, mzee, senior; see also Thesaurus:old person
• (one who lived at an earlier period): antecessor, forerunner; see also Thesaurus:predecessor

Translations

Verb

elder (third-person singular simple present elders, present participle eldering, simple past and past participle eldered)

1. (Quakerism) To admonish or reprove for improper conduct by the elders of the meeting.

   I was eldered for directly responding to someone else's message in meeting for worship.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Wikispecies

From Middle English eldre, eller, from Old English ellærn, from Proto-Germanic *elernaz, *eldernaz (confer Low German Elhorn, Elloorn).

Noun

elder (plural elders)

2. A small tree, Sambucus nigra, having white flowers in a cluster, and edible purple berries
4. Any of the other species of the genus Sambucus: small trees, shrubs or herbaceous perennials with red, purple, or white/yellow berries (some of which are poisonous).

Synonyms

• (Sambucus nigra): black elder

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *aliþro (“udder”), from *alan? (“to nourish”). Cognate with dialectal Dutch elder (“udder”).

Noun

elder

1. A cow's udder, especially used as food.

References

Anagrams

• Edler

Basque

Noun

elder inan

1. slime

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

elder

1. present of elde

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

elder f

1. indefinite plural of elde
2. indefinite plural of elde

Verb

elder

1. present tense of elda and elde

Old Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse eldr, from Proto-Germanic *ailidaz.

Noun

elder m

1. fire
2. a skin disease - possibly erysipelas

Declension

Descendants

• Swedish: eld