Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. elder, senior(noun)

   a person who is older than you are

2. elder, elderberry bush(noun)

   any of numerous shrubs or small trees of temperate and subtropical northern hemisphere having white flowers and berrylike fruit

3. elder(adj)

   any of various church officers

4. elder, older, sr.(adj)

   used of the older of two persons of the same name especially used to distinguish a father from his son

   "Bill Adams, Sr."

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Elder(adj)

   older; more aged, or existing longer

2. Elder(adj)

   born before another; prior in years; senior; earlier; older; as, his elder brother died in infancy; -- opposed to younger, and now commonly applied to a son, daughter, child, brother, etc

3. Elder(adj)

   one who is older; a superior in age; a senior

4. Elder(adj)

   an aged person; one who lived at an earlier period; a predecessor

5. Elder(adj)

   a person who, on account of his age, occupies the office of ruler or judge; hence, a person occupying any office appropriate to such as have the experience and dignity which age confers; as, the elders of Israel; the elders of the synagogue; the elders in the apostolic church

6. Elder(adj)

   a clergyman authorized to administer all the sacraments; as, a traveling elder

7. Elder(noun)

   a genus of shrubs (Sambucus) having broad umbels of white flowers, and small black or red berries

Origin: [OE. ellern, eller, AS. ellen, cf. LG. elloorn; perh. akin to OHG. holantar, holuntar, G. holunder; or perh. to E. alder, n.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Elder

   An elder in Christianity is a person valued for his wisdom who accordingly holds a particular position of responsibility in a Christian group. In some Christian traditions an elder is a clergy person who usually serves a local church or churches and who has been ordained to a ministry of Word, Sacrament and Order, filling the preaching and pastoral offices. In other Christian traditions, an elder may be a lay person charged with serving as an administrator in a local church, or be ordained to such an office. Particularly in reference to age and experience, elders exist throughout world cultures, and the Christian sense of elder is partially related to this.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Elder

   eld′ėr, n. a genus of plants consisting chiefly of shrubs and trees, with pinnate leaves, small flowers (of which the corolla is wheel-shaped and five-cleft), and three-seeded berries—the Common Elder is the Scotch Bourtree.—ns. Eld′er-berr′y, the acidulous purple-black drupaceous fruit of the elder; Eld′er-gun, a popgun made of elder-wood by extracting the pith; Eld′er-wine, a pleasant wine made from elder-berries.—Elder-flower water, distilled water, with an agreeable odour, made from the flowers. [A.S. ellærn, ellen.]

2. Elder

   eld′ėr, adj. older: having lived a longer time: prior in origin.—n. one who is older: an ancestor: one advanced to office on account of age: one of a class of office-bearers in the Presbyterian Church—equivalent to the presbyters of the New Testament.—n. Eld′erliness.—adj. Eld′erly, somewhat old: bordering on old age.—n. Eld′ership, state of being older: the office of an elder.—adj. Eld′est, oldest. [A.S. eldra, yldra, comp. of eald, old.]

The Nuttall Encyclopedia(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Elder

   a name given to certain office-bearers in the Presbyterian Church, associated with the minister in certain spiritual functions short of teaching and administering sacraments; their duties embrace the general oversight of the congregation, and are of a wider nature than those of the deacons, whose functions are confined strictly to the secular interests of the church; they are generally elected by the church members, and ordained in the presence of the congregation; their term of office is in some cases for a stated number of years, but more generally for life.

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'elder' in Nouns Frequency: #3014

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of elder in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of elder in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Sample Sentences & Example Usage

1. Joyce Varner:

   I am going to be an elder orphan, too.

2. Vikrant Parsai:

   A man one year elder to you is one cunning year elder to you.

3. Hal Klepak:

   Raul is determined, as his elder brother is, that this isn't going to look like a monarchy.

4. Anthony Marshall:

   My grandmother would never want to be known as one of America's most famous cases of elder abuse.

5. The BND:

   The thus far cautious diplomatic stance of the elder leaders in the royal family is being replaced by an impulsive interventionist policy.

Images & Illustrations of elder