old

Meanings

Adjective

• Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
• Having been used and thus no longer new or unused.
• Having existed or lived for the specified time.
• Of an earlier time.
• Tiresome after prolonged repetition.
• Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over time.
• (Mostly in idioms like good old, big old and little old, any old and some old.)
• Excessive, abundant.

Noun

• People who are old; old beings; the older generation, taken as a group.
• A person older than oneself, especially an adult in relation to a teenager.
• One's parents.

Related

Similar words

• aged, of age

Opposite words

• brand new, fresh, new
• young
• current, latest, new

Origin

• From Middle English old, ald, from Old English ald, eald, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz, originally a participle form, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- ("grown, tall, big"). Cognate with Scots auld, North Frisian ool, ual, uul, Saterland Frisian oold, West Frisian âld, Dutch oud, Low German old, German alt, Swedish äldre, Icelandic eldri, Latin altus. Related to eld.