Where does “elderly” come from?
Elderly derives from English elder, itself from Old English -līċ, traced through Proto-Indo-European al- and h₂el-, meaning to grow or nourish.
elderly (English): old; having lived for relatively many years; Of...
Definitions
- old; having lived for relatively many years; Of...
Ancestry of “elderly”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | elder | comparative degree of old: older, greater than... |
| 2 | English | -dom | Forming nouns denoting the condition or state of... |
| 3 | English | DOM | Initialism of date of marriage; Initialism of... |
| 4 | English | dominance | The state of being dominant; of prime importance;... |
| 5 | English | -ance | Added to an adjective or verb to form a noun... |
| 6 | Middle English | -aunce | Forms nouns indicating states or processes, usually from verbs or other nouns; -ance |
| 7 | Old French | -ance | ance (suffix used to form nouns) |
| 8 | Latin | -ia | Used to form a feminine abstract noun, usually... |
| 9 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |