auld

See also: Auld

English

Alternative forms

• aud, aul, oul, oul', ould

Etymology

From Scots auld or from Northern Middle English auld, aulde, awld, awlde, ald, alde, from Northumbrian Old English ald, variant of Old English eald (“old, mature, venerable; antique, ancient, primeval”), from Proto-West Germanic *ald, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz (“grown up; old”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eltós (“grown, nourished, matured”). Compare cognate Latin altus (“nourished, raised, grown; tall”). Doublet of old.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /oʊld/

  • Audio (General American):

    (file)

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əʊld/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ɑːld/
• (Liverpool) IPA^(key): /aːʊl/
• Rhymes: -əʊld

Adjective

auld (comparative aulder, superlative auldest)

1. (archaic, Northern England, Liverpool, Scotland, Ireland) Old.

Synonyms

• aged, eldern, hoary; see also Thesaurus:old

Related terms

• alderman
• auld birkie
• aulden
• auldfarrand
• auld-fashioned
• auld lang syne
• auld-warld
• auld wives' tongues
• eld
• elder
• old

Further reading

• “auld”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “auld”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “auld”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “auld”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Auld”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume I (A–B), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 564, column 2.
• William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914), “auld”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, revised edition, volume I, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 381, column 1.

Anagrams

• Daul, Dula, dual, laud, udal

Scots

Alternative forms

• ald, aald, aal, aul', aul, ould

Etymology

From Northern Middle English auld, aulde, awld, awlde, ald, alde, from Northumbrian Old English ald, variant of Old English eald (“old, mature, venerable; antique, ancient, primeval”), from Proto-West Germanic *ald, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz (“grown up; old”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eltós (“grown, nourished, matured”). Compare cognate Latin altus (“nourished, raised, grown; tall”).

Pronunciation

• (Central Scots, Southern Scots) IPA^(key): /ɔl(d)/
• (Doric Scots, Southern Scots, cat-caught merger) IPA^(key): /al(d)/

Adjective

auld (comparative aulder, superlative auldest)

1. old

Derived terms

• Auld Clootie
• Auld Enemy
• auld lang syne
• auld manny
• Auld Reekie
• auld-farrant
• auld-fashioned
• auld-warld
• aulden
• auldness
• auldrife

Further reading

• “auld”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “auld”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.