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Old English   /oʊld ˈɪŋglɪʃ/   Listen
adjective
Old  adj.  (compar. older; superl. oldest)  
1.
Not young; advanced far in years or life; having lived till toward the end of the ordinary term of living; as, an old man; an old age; an old horse; an old tree. "Let not old age disgrace my high desire." "The melancholy news that we grow old."
2.
Not new or fresh; not recently made or produced; having existed for a long time; as, old wine; an old friendship. "An old acquaintance."
3.
Formerly existing; ancient; not modern; preceding; original; as, an old law; an old custom; an old promise. "The old schools of Greece." "The character of the old Ligurians."
4.
Continued in life; advanced in the course of existence; having (a certain) length of existence; designating the age of a person or thing; as, an infant a few hours old; a cathedral centuries old. "And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?" Note: In this use old regularly follows the noun that designates the age; as, she was eight years old.
5.
Long practiced; hence, skilled; experienced; cunning; as, an old offender; old in vice. "Vane, young in years, but in sage counsel old."
6.
Long cultivated; as, an old farm; old land, as opposed to new land, that is, to land lately cleared.
7.
Worn out; weakened or exhausted by use; past usefulness; as, old shoes; old clothes.
8.
More than enough; abundant. (Obs.) "If a man were porter of hell gate, he should have old turning the key."
9.
Aged; antiquated; hence, wanting in the mental vigor or other qualities belonging to youth; used disparagingly as a term of reproach.
10.
Old-fashioned; wonted; customary; as of old; as, the good old times; hence, colloquially, gay; jolly.
11.
Used colloquially as a term of cordiality and familiarity. "Go thy ways, old lad."
Old age, advanced years; the latter period of life.
Old bachelor. See Bachelor, 1.
Old Catholics. See under Catholic.
Old English. See under English. n., 2.
Old Nick, Old Scratch, the devil.
Old lady (Zool.), a large European noctuid moth (Mormo maura).
Old maid.
(a)
A woman, somewhat advanced in years, who has never been married; a spinster.
(b)
(Bot.) A West Indian name for the pink-flowered periwinkle (Vinca rosea).
(c)
A simple game of cards, played by matching them. The person with whom the odd card is left is the old maid.
Old man's beard. (Bot.)
(a)
The traveler's joy (Clematis Vitalba). So named from the abundant long feathery awns of its fruit.
(b)
The Tillandsia usneoides. See Tillandsia.
Old man's head (Bot.), a columnar cactus (Pilocereus senilis), native of Mexico, covered towards the top with long white hairs.
Old red sandstone (Geol.), a series of red sandstone rocks situated below the rocks of the Carboniferous age and comprising various strata of siliceous sandstones and conglomerates. See Sandstone, and the Chart of Geology.
Old school, a school or party belonging to a former time, or preserving the character, manner, or opinions of a former time; as, a gentleman of the old school; used also adjectively; as, Old-School Presbyterians.
Old sledge, an old and well-known game of cards, called also all fours, and high, low, Jack, and the game.
Old squaw (Zool.), a duck (Clangula hyemalis) inhabiting the northern parts of both hemispheres. The adult male is varied with black and white and is remarkable for the length of its tail. Called also longtailed duck, south southerly, callow, hareld, and old wife.
Old style. (Chron.) See the Note under Style.
Old Testament. See Old Testament under Testament, and see tanak.
Old wife. (In the senses (b) and (c) written also oldwife)
(a)
A prating old woman; a gossip. "Refuse profane and old wives' fables."
(b)
(Zool.) The local name of various fishes, as the European black sea bream (Cantharus lineatus), the American alewife, etc.
(c)
(Zool.) A duck; the old squaw.
Old World, the Eastern Hemisphere.
Synonyms: Aged; ancient; pristine; primitive; antique; antiquated; old-fashioned; obsolete. See Ancient.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Old english" Quotes from Famous Books



... which I am now writing was Lynde, Livingstone & Co. Mr. David Lynde lived in a set of chambers up town, and dined at his club, where he usually passed the evenings at chess with some brother antediluvian. A visit to the theatre, when some old English comedy or some new English ballet happened to be on the boards, was the periphery of his dissipation. What is called society saw nothing of him. He was a rough, breezy, thickset old gentleman, betrothed from his birth to apoplexy, enjoying ...
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... poetry see, besides Skene, Professor Rhys, op. cit. Gildas and Nennius (but not the Vita Gildae) will be found conveniently translated, with Geoffrey himself, in a volume of Bohn's Historical Library, Six Old English Chronicles. The E.E.T.S. edition of Merlin contains a very long excursus by Mr Stuart-Glennie on the ...
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... Saturday we see markets at the towns we go through; at Habwood and Flatonia especially was this noticeable. The population seemed almost altogether negro. I observed a negro and his wife, well dressed, riding on horseback in the old English pillion style; another negro and his wife, and about twelve children, in a capacious kind of wagon-buggy, and many negroes and negresses, the latter dressed in white and gay colours, standing at their ...
— A start in life • C. F. Dowsett

... colonial women had is rather difficult to discover from the writings of the day; for each section had its own peculiar rules, and courts and decisions in the various colonies, and sometimes in one colony, contradicted one another. Until the adoption of the Constitution the old English law prevailed, and while unmarried women could make deeds, wills, and other business transactions, the wife's identity was largely merged into that of her husband. The colonial husband seems to have had considerable confidence in his help-meet's ...
— Woman's Life in Colonial Days • Carl Holliday

... use to be." [325] The influence of the moon upon vegetation is an opinion hoary with age. In the Zend-Avesta we read, "And when the light of the moon waxes warmer, golden-hued plants grow on from the earth during the spring." [326] An old English author writes:— ...
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