elderly

Etymology

It is formed from English elder + -ly.^[2][3][4][5] The base adjective is from Old English eldra (“older”), the comparative of eald (“old”),^[6] which Ayto traces to prehistoric Proto-Germanic *althizon, the comparative of *althaz (“old”).^[7] Old English also had the related ealdorlic (“chief, princely, excellent”) and eldernliche (“of old time”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Belonging to or typical of older people: about 1400, in a manuscript of the Brut, the first record in the OED's revision of 2023.^[2] Most other dictionaries date the word only from the early 17th century: 1611 in Merriam-Webster,^[5] the 1610s in Etymonline,^[3] and the early 17th century in the Shorter Oxford.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline's first gloss is "bordering on old age, somewhat old", and it adds that the word now generally means simply "old".^[3] Johnson (1755) defined it in the same mild terms, as no longer young and bordering on old age.^[8] From 1529, in More, it described a person or animal that had lived a long time.^[2] Since 1734 it has also described a thing that has existed a long time, or one worn or shabby from use.^[2] Merriam-Webster records this use of things in the sense of old-fashioned or outmoded.^[5] The noun use for older people as a group, the elderly, appeared in 1683,^[2] and the colloquial use for a single older person in 1819;^[2] the Shorter Oxford places both only in the mid 19th century,^[4] and Merriam-Webster dates the noun to 1865.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – of or characteristic of older people.^[2]
• 1529 – of a person or animal, advanced in age.^[2]
• 1683 – noun, the elderly, older people as a group.^[2]
• 1734 – of a thing, having existed for a long time; later also shabby from use.^[2]
• 1819 – noun, colloquial, an older person.^[2] Merriam-Webster dates this noun to 1865.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Past middle age and getting on in years; rather old: an elderly neighbour.^[9][5][4]
2. Of, relating to or typical of older people or later life.^[9][5][2]
3. Of a thing, old; old-fashioned or shabby from long use: an elderly delivery van.^[5][2][4]

Noun

1. the elderly: older people considered as a group: free transport for the elderly.^[9][2][4]
2. An elderly person; colloquial, and usually in the plural.^[9][5][2]

Word family

• elderliness
• nonelderly

Related words

• elder
• old

Usage notes

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the noun is fairly neutral when it refers to older people in general.^[9] As an adjective describing one person, the word can carry dignity and respect, but it can also imply frailty and so sound condescending.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt