Eld
/ɛld/noun
A Scottish and dialect word meaning old age or old people.
Did you know?In Scots and older dialect use, *eld* survives as a poetic, compressed form of “old age,” and it is ultimately related to the same ancient root that gave English *old*.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂el-
“To grow, nourish, or increase in age”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*aldaz
“Grown up, mature, old”
Old English
OE
eald
“Old, aged”
Middle English
ME
eld
“Old age; age, oldness (especially in Scots and dialect use)”
Modern English
English
eld
“A poetic or dialect word for old age or the elderly”