- [only before noun]
(of people, especially two members of the same family 指人，尤指同一家庭里两个成员中 older 年纪较长的 my elder brother 我的哥哥 his elder sister 他的姐姐
- the elder
used without a noun immediately after it to show who is the older of two people （后面不紧跟名词，指两者中的）较年长者 the elder of their two sons 他们的两个儿子中年纪较大的那个
- the elder(formal)
used before or after somebody’s name to show that they are the older of two people who have the same name （用于人名前或后，指同名的两个人中）年龄较大的一个 the elder Pitt 老皮特 Pitt the elder 老皮特
Synonyms oldoldcompare the younger- elderly
- aged
- long-lived
- mature
- old having lived for a long time; no longer young:
She’s getting old—she’s 75 next year. 她上年纪了，明年就 75 岁了。
- elderly (rather formal
) used as a polite word for ‘old’: old 的委婉语，指年纪较大的、上了年纪的： She is very busy caring for two elderly relatives. 她在忙着照顾两个年老的亲戚。
- aged (formal
) very old: 指年迈的、年老的： Having aged relatives to stay in your house can be quite stressful. 年迈的亲戚住在家里有时压力相当大。
- long-lived having a long life; lasting for a long time:
Everyone in my family is exceptionally long-lived. 我们家每个人都特别长寿。
- mature used as a polite or humorous way of saying that somebody is no longer young:
clothes for the mature woman 成年妇女的服装
- a(n) old/elderly/aged/long-lived/mature man/woman
- a(n) old/elderly/aged/mature gentleman/lady/couple
Word Originadjective Old English ieldra, eldra, of Germanic origin; related to German älter, also to old.