| / English Dictionary |
ELDER
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A person who is older than you are
Synonyms:
elder; senior
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("elder" is a kind of...):
adult; grownup (a fully developed person from maturity onward)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "elder"):
dean; doyen (a man who is the senior member of a group)
doyenne (a woman who is the senior member of a group)
Derivation:
elder (used of the older of two persons of the same name especially used to distinguish a father from his son)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Any of various church officers
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("elder" is a kind of...):
church officer (a church official)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "elder"):
presbyter (an elder in the Presbyterian Church)
Derivation:
eldership (the office of elder)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Any of numerous shrubs or small trees of temperate and subtropical northern hemisphere having white flowers and berrylike fruit
Synonyms:
elder; elderberry bush
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("elder" is a kind of...):
bush; shrub (a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "elder"):
American elder; black elderberry; Sambucus canadensis; sweet elder (common elder of central and eastern North America bearing purple-black berries; fruit used in wines and jellies)
blue elder; blue elderberry; Sambucus caerulea (shrub or small tree of western United States having white flowers and blue berries; fruit used in wines and jellies)
danewort; dwarf elder; Sambucus ebulus (dwarf herbaceous elder of Europe having pink flowers and a nauseous odor)
black elder; bourtree; common elder; elderberry; European elder; Sambucus nigra (a common shrub with black fruit or a small tree of Europe and Asia; fruit used for wines and jellies)
American red elder; red-berried elder; Sambucus pubens; stinking elder (common North American shrub or small tree)
European red elder; red-berried elder; Sambucus racemosa (Eurasian shrub)
Holonyms ("elder" is a member of...):
genus Sambucus; Sambucus (elder; elderberry)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Used of the older of two persons of the same name especially used to distinguish a father from his son
Example:
Bill Adams, Sr.
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
senior (older; higher in rank; longer in length of tenure or service)
Derivation:
elder (a person who is older than you are)
Context examples:
Ned, Frank, and the little girls joined in this, and while it went on, the three elders sat apart, talking.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
The spirit of elder days found a dwelling here, and we delighted to trace its footsteps.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
I know not what the world is coming to, when young maids may flout their elders.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Willoughby took his usual place between the two elder Miss Dashwoods.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
He won their money, but above all he won papers from his elder brother which meant a great deal to him.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Well, Mr. Holmes, I supped there, as the vicar has said, and my elder brother George proposed a game of whist afterwards.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
And all the grandeur of the connexion seemed dependent on the elder sister, who was very well married, to a gentleman in a great way, near Bristol, who kept two carriages!
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
With the dignity of an elder, he rose to his feet, and waited for silence amid the babble of voices.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
The two elder brothers would have pulled it down, in order to see how the poor ants in their fright would run about and carry off their eggs.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
She was not pleased to see Julia excluded from the play, and sitting by disregarded; but as it was not a matter which really involved her happiness, as Henry must be the best judge of his own, and as he did assure her, with a most persuasive smile, that neither he nor Julia had ever had a serious thought of each other, she could only renew her former caution as to the elder sister, entreat him not to risk his tranquillity by too much admiration there, and then gladly take her share in anything that brought cheerfulness to the young people in general, and that did so particularly promote the pleasure of the two so dear to her.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
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