Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Language: Old English
Origin: ieldra, from eald 'old'

elder

1 adjective
     
el‧der1 especially British English
the elder of two people, especially brothers and sisters, is the one who was born first
elder brother/son/sister/daughter etc
His elder son Liam became a lawyer.
Sarah is the elder of the two.
! It is more usual to say older.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary