Etymologically
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eldest

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈɛldɪst/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English eldest,[2][3] inherited from Old English eldest, also ieldest and yldest,[4][5][6][2] the superlative of eald (“old”), in Anglian ald.[4][7][2] As in elder, the vowel of the adjective was changed by the i of the Germanic suffix.[8][7] It is cognate with Old Frisian eldest, Old High German altisto, German ältest and Old Norse ellztr,[4][6][9] from Proto-Germanic *aldisto-.[4] The Germanic adjective for "old", Proto-Germanic *alþaz (“grown up, adult”), was a past participle of a verb meaning "to grow, nourish", from Proto-Indo-European *al- (“to grow, nourish”).[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Oldest, greatest in age: in the Old English West Saxon Gospels (Matthew);[4] Ælfric's Genesis already uses it of the firstborn in a family, and King Alfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care for "earliest, most ancient".[4]

Semantic evolution

From the 16th century the regular form oldest took over the general sense,[7] and eldest is now used mainly of one member of a family or other related group, especially the firstborn or the oldest surviving child.[4][10] The sense "earliest, most ancient" is archaic.[4][5] Johnson (1755) called it the superlative of eld, "now changed to old", and defined it as the oldest, the child with the right of primogeniture, quoting Macbeth: "Our eldest Malcolm".[11] In card games, from 1599, the eldest or eldest hand is the player who receives cards first.[4] It was briefly a military word for the most senior in rank (1721).[4]

Timeline

  • Old English – oldest, greatest in age.[4]
  • Old English – firstborn, oldest surviving in a family.[4]
  • Old English – earliest, most ancient (now archaic).[4]
  • 16th century – replaced by oldest in the general sense.[7]
  • 1599 – in cards, the first player.[4]
  • 1721 – in the army, senior in rank (now obsolete).[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Oldest, especially of the children of the same parents or the members of a family: Her eldest son runs the farm now.[12][5][4]
  2. (archaic) Earliest; most ancient.[5][4]
  3. (card games) Of a player or hand, receiving cards first: eldest hand.[4]

Noun

  1. The oldest person of a group, especially the oldest child of a family.[4][6]

Usage notes

Elder and eldest are used of people, unlike older and oldest, which are also used of things, and they mainly express seniority, as in eldest daughter.[10][4]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  12. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins