elder
Pluralelders
Pluralelders
Formselders, eldering, eldered
- 1A senior, respected member of a tribe or community, valued as an authority in counseling, consultation, or ceremony.
The council of elders met to decide how to share the harvest.
As an elder, she was asked to bless the new gathering hall.
UsageOften village elder or council of elders.
Note
A title of standing rather than of years: age often comes with it, but respect and counsel are the point. That is why it travels well beyond the village. Seyi Akiwowo in 2022 calls the pioneers of online gender-rights work "the few but mighty elders" of their field.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Seyi Akiwowo calls senior figures in tech and gender-rights work "the few but mighty elders". en.wiktionary.org
- The book containing Akiwowo's quotation was first published in 2022. cdn.penguin.co.uk
- 2Comparative of old.
The elder of the two daughters inherited the family farm.
His elder cousin always settled the arguments between them.
UsageSay older than (not
incorrect: elder than); elder goes before a noun for family: an elder sister. - 3A person who has reached old age.
Many elders in the community rely on volunteers for rides to appointments.
The program pairs a young volunteer with an elder who lives alone.
UsageElders can express respect, but preferences vary. Older adults is a neutral general term.
Similarsenior
Oppositeyoungster
Note
Where old people can sound blunt, elders frames the aged as a group owed care, and it turns up naturally in medicine and social services. Ruth Taber, writing in 2022 about the shortage of geriatricians, speaks of "society's elders."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Ruth Taber used the phrase "society's elders" in a 2022 article discussing the shortage of geriatricians. elpasomatters.org
- 4A person who is older in age than another.
As the elder, she felt responsible for guiding her younger siblings.
He deferred to his elders in all matters of family business.
UsageMostly after a possessive: your elders, as in respect your elders.
Similarsenior
Oppositejunior
Note
Age here is relative, not absolute: a twelve-year-old has elders too. Unlike the "old person" meaning, it says nothing about how old anyone actually is.
- 5In some Christian churches, an officer who helps lead the congregation, sometimes with teaching duties; in some churches, an ordained minister who can administer the sacraments.
The board of elders oversees both worship and the teaching of new members.
She was ordained as an elder after years of service to the congregation.
- 6A small tree or shrub of the genus Sambucus, especially the common elder (Sambucus nigra), with flat clusters of white flowers and small dark berries.
The elder by the gate was heavy with white blossom in early summer.
She made syrup from the ripe berries of the elder behind the cottage.
Note
A different word altogether from the elder of age. Folklore gave the tree a protective role: Rosetta E. Clarkson's Green Enchantment (1940) lists elder among the trees planted to counteract witches.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- The tree name and elder referring to age have different origins. en.wiktionary.org
- 7In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a man holding the Melchizedek priesthood office of elder; also a title before the names of male missionaries and general leaders.
Elder Thompson and his companion served in the same city for a year.
At the conference, Elder Ramirez addressed thousands of members.
UsageA title before the surname: Elder Packer, Elder Ramirez.
Note
The same title covers a young missionary and a long-serving general authority of the church. The name alone does not tell you a man's rank; only context separates the newcomer from the senior leader.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- The title Elder applies both to male missionaries and to senior general authorities, so it alone does not distinguish their positions. churchofjesuschrist.org
Less common meanings
- 8A person who lived in an earlier time; a predecessor.
The poets of our age owe much to their elders of the previous century.
She treated Homer as an elder whose voice still shaped her own verse.
Similarpredecessor, forebear, forerunner, precursor
Oppositesuccessor
- 9A priest or priestess of a pagan or Heathen faith.
An elder of the grove blessed the gathering at the solstice.
The community's elders presided over rites honoring the old gods.
Note
A word from contemporary Germanic paganism, where Heathen groups use it for the people who lead ritual and keep the tradition. It names a religious office, not a stage of life, and it applies equally to women and men.
- 10To formally admonish or reprove someone for improper conduct, as done by the elders of a meeting.
The community decided to elder the young man for his disruptive behavior.
He was quietly eldered for speaking out of turn during worship.
UsageUsually passive: I was eldered.
Similaradmonish, reprove, rebuke, reprimand
Note
Quakers turned the noun into a verb. To be eldered is to be taken aside by the elders of a meeting for conduct out of keeping with worship, such as answering another person's message directly.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- The religious verb developed from the noun elder in Quaker usage. en.wikipedia.org
- 11A cow's udder, especially as prepared and eaten as food.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
Proto-Germanic *alþizô became Old English eldra (also yldra, ieldra) and then Middle English eldre. The change of a to e came about because of the i that followed, a process known as umlaut or i-mutation.
Proto-Germanic *elernaz or *eldernaz (compare Low German Elhorn, Elloorn) gave Old English ellærn, which became Middle English eldre (also eller, ellern).