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OLD
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Past times (especially in the phrase 'in days of old')
Classified under:
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations
Hypernyms ("old" is a kind of...):
past; past times; yesteryear (the time that has elapsed)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Just preceding something else in time or order
Example:
my old house was larger
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
preceding (existing or coming before)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Of a very early stage in development
Example:
Old High German is High German from the middle of the 9th to the end of the 11th century
Classified under:
Similar:
early (of an early stage in the development of a language or literature)
Domain category:
linguistics (the scientific study of language)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Skilled through long experience
Example:
the older soldiers
Synonyms:
old; older
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
experienced; experient (having experience; having knowledge or skill from observation or participation)
Sense 4
Meaning:
(used for emphasis) very familiar
Example:
same old story
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
familiar (well known or easily recognized)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Very good
Example:
we had a grand old time
Synonyms:
bang-up; bully; corking; cracking; dandy; great; groovy; keen; neat; nifty; not bad; old; peachy; slap-up; smashing; swell
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
good (having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified)
Domain usage:
colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Of long duration; not new
Example:
old money
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
yellow; yellowed (changed to a yellowish color by age)
sunset (of a declining industry or technology)
secondhand; used (previously used or owned by another)
patched (mended usually clumsily by covering a hole with a patch)
long-time; longtime (having existed or persisted or continued in a particular role or state for a long time)
long-ago (belonging to time long gone)
immemorial (long past; beyond the limits of memory or tradition or recorded history)
hand-down; hand-me-down (passed on from one person to another)
auld (a Scottish word)
antique (made in or typical of earlier times and valued for its age)
antediluvian; antiquated; archaic (so extremely old as seeming to belong to an earlier period)
age-old; antique (belonging to or lasting from times long ago)
Also:
worn (affected by wear; damaged by long use)
past (earlier than the present time; no longer current)
noncurrent (not current or belonging to the present time)
stale (lacking freshness, palatability, or showing deterioration from age)
nonmodern (not modern; of or characteristic of an earlier time)
Attribute:
age (how long something has existed)
Antonym:
new (not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered)
Derivation:
oldness (the quality of being old; the opposite of newness)
Sense 7
Meaning:
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
Example:
how old are you?
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
venerable (impressive by reason of age)
sexagenarian (being from 60 to 69 years old)
over-the-hill; overage; overaged; superannuated (too old to be useful)
oldish (somewhat elderly)
octogenarian (being from 80 to 89 years old)
nonagenarian (being from 90 to 99 years old)
middle-aged (being roughly between 45 and 65 years old)
gray; gray-haired; gray-headed; grey; grey-haired; grey-headed; grizzly; hoar; hoary; white-haired (showing characteristics of age, especially having grey or white hair)
emeritus (honorably retired from assigned duties and retaining your title along with the additional title 'emeritus' as in 'professor emeritus')
doddering; doddery; gaga; senile (mentally or physically infirm with age)
darkened ((of fabrics and paper) grown dark in color over time)
centenarian (being at least 100 years old)
anile (of or like a feeble old woman)
ancient (very old)
ageing; aging; senescent (growing old)
aged; of age (having attained a specific age; ('aged' is pronounced as one syllable))
aged; elderly; older; senior (advanced in years; ('aged' is pronounced as two syllables))
Also:
mature (having reached full natural growth or development)
experienced; experient (having experience; having knowledge or skill from observation or participation)
senior (older; higher in rank; longer in length of tenure or service)
Attribute:
age (how long something has existed)
Antonym:
young ((used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth)
Derivation:
oldness (the opposite of youngness)
Sense 8
Meaning:
Belonging to some prior time
Example:
her quondam lover
Synonyms:
erstwhile; former; old; one-time; onetime; quondam; sometime
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
past (earlier than the present time; no longer current)
Context examples:
Some stay the same or get worse as you get older.
(Birthmarks, NIH)
Many children wet the bed until they are 5 or even older.
(Bedwetting, NIH)
Older people or their families usually pay for it.
(Assisted Living, Administration on Aging)
The loss may be temporary or permanent, and may involve old or recent memories.
(Amnesia, NCI Thesaurus)
Signs and symptoms of Asperger syndrome show up by the time children are 3 years old.
(Asperger Syndrome, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)
Ah! she was a dear old Asp to me.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
As people grow older, it may take longer to retrieve those files.
(Memory, NIH: National Institute on Aging)
It is most common in older people and in people with weakened immune systems.
(Merkel cell cancer, NCI Dictionary)
The risk goes up as you get older.
(Alzheimer's Disease, NIH: National Institute on Aging)
Surely not! why, she is too old for such pettishness.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
