- elders[plural] people of greater age, experience and authority
- Children have no respect for their elders nowadays.
- the village elders (= the old and respected people of the village)
- Traditions were passed on by the elders of the tribe.
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- my, etc. elder[singular] (formal) a person older than me, etc.
- He is her elder by several years.
- [countable] an official in some Christian churches
- [countable] a small tree with white flowers with a sweet smell (elderflowers) and bunches of small black berries (elderberries)
Word Originnoun senses 1 to 3 Old English ieldra, eldra, of Germanic origin; related to German älter, also to old. noun sense 4 Old English ellærn; related to Middle Low German ellern, elderne.
Idioms
See elder in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee elder in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishyour elders and betters
- people who are older and wiser than you and that you should respect
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elder