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Fine Dictionary

elder

ˈɛldər
WordNet
Mercury and Jupiter stand on a hill with an elderly couple, Philemon and Baucis, and watch the landscape ravaged by floods and thunderstorms. The Gods got the couple to safety just in time. Philemon and Baucis won the favor of the Gods by welcoming them into their homes and feeding them.
Mercury and Jupiter stand on a hill with an elderly couple, Philemon and Baucis, and watch the landscape ravaged by floods and thunderstorms. The Gods got the couple to safety just in time. Philemon and Baucis won the favor of the Gods by welcoming them into their homes and feeding them.
  1. (adj) elder
    used of the older of two persons of the same name especially used to distinguish a father from his son "Bill Adams, Sr."
  2. (n) elder
    a person who is older than you are
  3. (n) elder
    any of various church officers
  4. (n) elder
    any of numerous shrubs or small trees of temperate and subtropical northern hemisphere having white flowers and berrylike fruit
Illustrations
Embroidered representation of a company in a garden. An elderly gentleman, in a robe and with a house cap, sits at a round table with a mousetrap with a mouse inside. A boy leans against the table and two adult women watch. In the background trees and shrubs, an overgrown trellis arch and a container plant. Below the image an embroidered inscription (see inscription), signature and date.
Embroidered representation of a company in a garden. An elderly gentleman, in a robe and with a house cap, sits at a round table with a mousetrap with a mouse inside. A boy leans against the table and two adult women watch. In the background trees and shrubs, an overgrown trellis arch and a container plant. Below the image an embroidered inscription (see inscription), signature and date.
Susanna and the Two Elders.
Susanna and the Elders
The four counts of Nassau-Dillenburg, the brothers of William I, Prince of Orange: Jan the Elder (seated) Hendrik, Adolf and Lodewijk. Shown against an architecture backdrop. On the table between them is a map, on the ground helmets and pieces of armor. Jan has a battle hammer in hand.
Group portrait of the four brothers of William I, Prince of Orange: Jan (1535-1606), Hendrik (1550-74), Adolf (1540-68) and Lodewijk (1538-74), Counts of Nassau
Interior of a farmhouse with a family. On the right a standing elderly man lighting his pipe with a fire tester. On the left a young woman behind a spinning wheel. A child is playing on the floor, a cat is sleeping on a chair on the right.
Peasant family in interior
Kings and prophets - the 24 elders from the Apocalypse - depict the text from John's prophetic visions, which can be read in the print. Together with the heavenly hosts, they bring praise to God who sits on a throne and holds the book with the 7 seals with their harps and bowls full of incense. The symbolic figures of the four evangelists John (angel), Mark (lion), Luke (ox) and Matthew (eagle) bear the music books, in which two voices of the eight-part motet of Pévernage are depicted. The elect hold palm branches in their hands and kneel in worship to the Lamb of God, which appears in a halo bearing the banner of the resurrection on Mount Zion. In the four partbooks, held up by the symbols of the four Evangelists, the notes of the four-part motet of Pévernage are on the text of Revelation 5.
Kings and prophets - the 24 elders from the Apocalypse - depict the text from John's prophetic visions, which can be read in the print. Together with the heavenly hosts, they bring praise to God who sits on a throne and holds the book with the 7 seals with their harps and bowls full of incense. The symbolic figures of the four evangelists John (angel), Mark (lion), Luke (ox) and Matthew (eagle) bear the music books, in which two voices of the eight-part motet of Pévernage are depicted. The elect hold palm branches in their hands and kneel in worship to the Lamb of God, which appears in a halo bearing the banner of the resurrection on Mount Zion. In the four partbooks, held up by the symbols of the four Evangelists, the notes of the four-part motet of Pévernage are on the text of Revelation 5.
Susanna and the Elders. In the background a fountain. Pendant to SK-A-40.
Susanna and the Elders. In the background a fountain. Pendant to SK-A-40.
The elderly woman is sitting, turned to the right, in an armchair. She is wearing a black widow's cap, holding a prayer book in one hand and a handkerchief in the other. She wears a white mill collar and a black suit, with her surcoat trimmed with fur. The red curtain, draped to the left of her head, shows a view of a blue sky. To the right is a wall with a niche and an old mourning herm in the background. This motif and the blooming tulip in the niche confirm the status of the person portrayed as a widow. The tulip indicates transience. She was the widow of Bartholomeus Le Witer, who must have died between April 3, 1612 and January 15, 1613, and with whom she was married in 1587. Magdalena de Cuyper continued the silk trade of her husband after his death. To the same ensemble belongs the portrait of the son of the sitter, Rogier Le Witer (SK-A-4971) and his wife Catharina Behaghel (SK-A-4972).
The elderly woman is sitting, turned to the right, in an armchair. She is wearing a black widow's cap, holding a prayer book in one hand and a handkerchief in the other. She wears a white mill collar and a black suit, with her surcoat trimmed with fur. The red curtain, draped to the left of her head, shows a view of a blue sky. To the right is a wall with a niche and an old mourning herm in the background. This motif and the blooming tulip in the niche confirm the status of the person portrayed as a widow. The tulip indicates transience. She was the widow of Bartholomeus Le Witer, who must have died between April 3, 1612 and January 15, 1613, and with whom she was married in 1587. Magdalena de Cuyper continued the silk trade of her husband after his death. To the same ensemble belongs the portrait of the son of the sitter, Rogier Le Witer (SK-A-4971) and his wife Catharina Behaghel (SK-A-4972).
Portrait of an elderly woman, presumably part of the Bakhuyzen family. Half-length, to the left, facing the viewer. Part of the collection of portrait miniatures.
Portrait of an elderly woman, presumably part of the Bakhuyzen family. Half-length, to the left, facing the viewer. Part of the collection of portrait miniatures.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
Interesting fact
It?s a common practice in southern India for a man to marry his elder sister?s daughter.
  1. Elder
    An aged person; one who lived at an earlier period; a predecessor. "Carry your head as your elders have done."
  2. Elder
    Born before another; prior in years; senior; earlier; older; as, his elder brother died in infancy; -- opposed to younger, and now commonly applied to a son, daughter, child, brother, etc. "The elder shall serve the younger.", "But ask of elder days, earth's vernal hour."
  3. Elder
    Older; more aged, or existing longer. "Let the elder men among us emulate their own earlier deeds."
  4. Elder
    One who is older; a superior in age; a senior.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
  1. elder
    Older; senior; having lived a longer time; born, produced, or formed before something else: opposed to younger.
  2. elder
    Prior in origin or appointment; preceding in the date of a commission; senior: as, an elder officer or magistrate.
  3. elder
    Prior in time; earlier; former.
  4. (n) elder
    One who is older than another or others; an elderly person.
  5. (n) elder
    A forefather; a predecessor; one of a former generation in the same family, class, or community.
  6. (n) elder
    In the Old Testament, a title of indefinite signification applied to various officers, but generally indicating in the earlier history the princes or heads of tribes, and afterward men of special influence, dignity, and authority in their local community. In the New Testament the elders are the lay element in the Sanhedrim, the supreme court of the Jewish nation in the first century.
  7. (n) elder
    In the New Testament, also the title of certain officers in the Christian church, whose functions are not clearly defined, but who apparently exercised a considerable control in the conduct of the local churches. Scholars are not agreed as to the limits or nature of their authority. The Presbyterians maintain that there were two classes of elders (1 Tim. v. 17; 1 Cor. xii. 2S; Rom. xii. 6-8; Acts xv. 25, 26, xx. 28; Heb. xiii. 7, 17). The Congregationalists on the one hand, and the Episcopalians on the other, maintain that there was no distinction between ruling and teaching elders, the elder or presbyter being in their judgment identical with the pastor or shepherd of the flock (Acts xx. 28; 1 Thes. v. 12; Heb. xiii. 7, 17; 1 Tim. v. 17).
  8. (n) elder
    In certain Protestant churches, an officer exercising governmental functions, either with or without teaching or pastoral functions. In churches of the Baptist persuasion the pastors of churches are usually called elders, although the class especially so called are not settled pastors, but evangelists and missionaries.
  9. (n) elder
    In some bodies of American Methodists elder is the general term for any clergyman. In the Methodist Episcopal Church the presiding elder is an ordained clergyman appointed by and serving under the bishop as superintendent, with large though carefully defined supervisory powers within a specified “district,” which usually corresponds somewhat in extent to an average county in an eastern State. In this district every minister is amenable to him, and every church is subject to his supervision and is usually visited by him three or four times during the year. He presides at Quarterly and often at District Conferences. Traveling elders are itinerant preachers appointed by the Annual Conference.
  10. (n) elder
    In the Mormon Church the elder is an officer whose duty it is “to preach and baptize; to ordain other elders, and also priests, teachers, and deacons; to lay on hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost; to bless children; and to take the lead of all meetings.” The elders constitute the Melchizedek priesthood, and include the apostles, the Seventy, the evangelists or patriarchs, and the high priest. Mormon Catechism, xvii.
  11. (n) elder
    Among the Shakers, four elders, two males and two females (the latter also called elderesses), have charge of each of the aggregated families.
  12. (n) elder
    The common name for species of Sambucus. The ordinary elder of Europe is S. nigra, and that of North America is S. Canadensis, both with black-purple berries, well known as shrubs of rapid growth, the stems containing an unusual amount of pith. The red-berried elder of the United States is S. racemosa, and the dwarf or ground elder of Europe is S. Ebulus. From the dried pith of the elder-tree balls for electrical purposes are made. The wood is also used for inferior turnery-work, weavers' shuttles, nettingpins, and shoemakers' pegs.
  13. (n) elder
    In the United States, the Aralia hispida.
  14. (n) elder
    Same as wild elder (under elder).
  15. (n) elder
    Same as wild elder (under elder).
  16. (n) elder
    Same as pale elder.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
  1. (n) Elder
    eld′ėr a genus of plants consisting chiefly of shrubs and trees, with pinnate leaves, small flowers (of which the corolla is wheel-shaped and five-cleft), and three-seeded berries—the Common Elder is the Scotch Bourtree
  2. (adj) Elder
    eld′ėr older: having lived a longer time: prior in origin
  3. (n) Elder
    one who is older: an ancestor: one advanced to office on account of age: one of a class of office-bearers in the Presbyterian Church—equivalent to the presbyters of the New Testament
Quotations
What an elder sees sitting; the young can't see standing.
Ibo Proverb
Oliver Wendell Holmes
The advice of the elders to young men is very apt to be as unreal as a list of the hundred best books.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Now that I am sixty, I see why the idea of elder wisdom has passed from currency.
John Updike
James Baldwin
Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.
James Baldwin
For the very first time the young are seeing history being made before it is censored by their elders.
Margaret Mead
Bertrand Russell
Obscenity is whatever happens to shock some elderly and ignorant magistrate.
Bertrand Russell
Etymology

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary OE. ellern, eller, AS. ellen, cf. LG. elloorn,; perh. akin to OHG. holantar, holuntar, G. holunder,; or perh. to E. alder, n.,

Usage in the news

Two women keep an eye on Box Elder Commission's doings . standard.net

Sept 11 was Daphne Ferlinda Elder's first day back at work after a glorious week of vacation with her sister. nytimes.com

On the past few Sloan albums, the Canadian rockers came off a bit anxious about aging into an elder statesman role, turning out a few too many songs about feeling old and irrelevant. rollingstone.com

There is often a good explanation for elderly anger. psychologytoday.com

An elderly woman walks by a shrine in Tokyo on Dec 31, 2009. msnbc.msn.com

Over-use of psychotropic medications on kids in foster care, elderly in care facilities also explored. theskanner.com

The Second Annual Rethinking Psychiatry Symposium coming up this weekend focuses on psychotropic drugs and their use on children and the elderly in care facilities. theskanner.com

The elderly are the newest people on Earth. miaminewtimes.com

With the increase in the elderly population comes an increase in the prevalence of chronic conditions such as hypertension, arthritis and cancer. davisenterprise.com

A pair of 20-pound dumbbells and a knife were the murder weapons used in the deaths of an elderly. baltimoresun.com

Elderly Woman Who Accidently Turned a Priceless Fresco Into a Viral Hit Is Suing for Royalties. slate.com

An elderly woman has unintentionally destroyed a valuable piece of artwork after she decided to 'restore' the painting herself. globalpost.com

Elderly, poor and students among those most affected by a photo requirement. startribune.com

F1's elder statesman remains outsider. cnn.com

Democrats Fire Up For Obama, Galvanize Clinton As Elder Statesman . fae.org

Usage in scientific papers

Applying subsensory noise to the feet increased the complexity of sway fluctuations in the elderly.
The Emergence of Modularity in Biological Systems

In a recent paper, Grant and Elder have argued that the Reynolds number cannot, in fact, continue to grow indefinitely.
3D Spinodal Decomposition in the Inertial Regime

Grant and Elder argue that at large enough Re, turbulent remixing of the interface will limit the coarsening rate , so that Re stays bounded. A saturating Re (which they estimate as Re ∼ 10 − 100) would require any t2/3 regime to eventually cross over to a limiting t1/2 law.
3D Spinodal Decomposition in the Inertial Regime

In any case, the arguments of Grant and Elder are far from rigorous; the coarsening interfaces could, remain one step ahead of the remixing despite an ever-increasing Re which, if applied to a static interfacial structure, would break it up.
3D Spinodal Decomposition in the Inertial Regime

Although we cannot rule it out for still larger times t, we see no evidence for a further crossover to a regime with asymptotic exponent α ≤ 1/2 as demanded by Grant and Elder .
3D Spinodal Decomposition in the Inertial Regime

Usage in literature

It was thereafter ably developed by an elder of the Church. "The Story of John G. Paton" by James Paton

The proprietor, an elderly man, his wife, and three married daughters ran it. "A Padre in France" by George A. Birmingham

I knew her only as an elderly woman possessing a fine presence and social tastes. "As I Remember" by Marian Gouverneur

The young Quaker women envied her, the elders shook their heads doubtfully. "A Little Girl in Old Philadelphia" by Amanda Minnie Douglas

Some of the elders might counsel yielding, or at least compromising, but not Splinterin' Andra. "Duncan Polite" by Marian Keith

So that the two young people, from being always attendant on the elder, began to draw apart and establish a separate kingdom. "The Rainbow" by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence

In introducing ladies, present the younger to the elder, unless in case of some marked exception such as those given above. "Social Life" by Maud C. Cooke

Green leaves of elder laid near fruit trees, or flower roots, will prevent their approach. "The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches," by Mary Eaton

Unconsciously she was wondering what dancing could mean to these elders of hers. "The Innocent Adventuress" by Mary Hastings Bradley

The men were elderly, fine-looking men; they were wholly engrossed in what they were doing. "Things as They Are" by Amy Wilson-Carmichael

Usage in poetry
With half a heart I wander here
As from an age gone by
A brother yet— though young in years,
An elder brother, I.
"In The States" by Robert Louis Stevenson Author object (570)
Two rosy urchins near him played,
Or watched, entranced, the shapely ships
That with his knife for them he made
Of elder slips.
"The Letter L" by Jean Ingelow Author object (347)
And over Middle-Earth he passed
and heard at last the weeping sore
of women and of elven-maids
in Elder Days, in years of yore.
"Earendil" by J R R Tolkien Author object (318)
By cam an elder o' the kirk;
Like a young horse he shied:
"Fie! here's a bonnie mornin's wark!"
An' he spangt to the ither side.
"Godly Ballants" by George MacDonald Author object (244)
If I, with too senescent air,
Invade your elder memory's pale,
You snub me with a pitying 'Where
Were you in the September Gale?'
"To Holmes: On His Seventy-Fifth Birthday" by James Russell Lowell Author object (334)
Then up and spake an elder mon,
That held the Spade its Ace —
God save the lad! Whence comes the licht
"That wimples on his face?"
"The Fall of Jock Gillespie" by Rudyard Kipling Author object (589)