old

a wrinkled old man

Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.

Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years.

an old loaf of bread

Of a perishable item, having existed for most of, or more than, its shelf life.

the ginkgo is one of the oldest living trees

Basque is the oldest language in Europe

Of a species or language, belonging to a lineage that is distantly related others

an old abandoned building

an old friend

They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too.

1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:

I find that an old toothbrush is good to clean the keyboard with.

Having been used and thus no longer new or unused.

How old are they? She’s five years old and he's seven. We also have a young teen and a two-year-old child.

My great-grandfather lived to be a hundred and one years old.

Having existed or lived for the specified time.

My new car is not as good as my old one.  a school reunion for Old Etonians

The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

But over my old life, a new life had formed.

(heading) Of an earlier time.
Former, previous.

The footpath follows the route of an old railway line.

(heading) Of an earlier time.
That is no longer in existence.

That is the old way of doing things; now we do it this way.

(heading) Of an earlier time.
Obsolete; out-of-date.

Of an earlier time.
Obsolete; out-of-date.

Adrian thought it worth while to try out his new slang. ‘I say, you fellows, here's a rum go. Old Biffo was jolly odd this morning. He gave me a lot of pi-jaw about slacking and then invited me to tea. No rotting! He did really.’

1991, Stephen Fry, chapter III, in The Liar, London: William Heinemann, →ISBN, page 26:

When he got drunk and quarrelsome they just gave him the old heave-ho.

(UK) Being a graduate or alumnus of a school, especially a public school.

Rik: But even great shtick can get old real fast: the dreaded Saturday Night Live syndrome.
Jim: Randomness can help - many Living Books have characters that do different things each time you click on them.

1995, MacUser, volume 11, MacUser Publications, page 147:

John and I built a small stone house on the head of “Bonetta” Canyon and had a hog killing time all by ourselves. Hunting was our delight at first, until it became old.

2000, Charles A. Siringo, A Texas Cowboy: or, Fifteen Years on the Hurricane Deck of a Spanish Pony, Penguin, →ISBN, page 100:

The songs start to get old real fast, and it's easy to get bored after the third song.

2008, Homer L. Hall, Logan H. Aimone, High School Journalism, The Rosen Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 171:

It was the same old thing every week, working and drinking, working and drinking. It became old and I got really sick of it.

2012, Blossom, From Under a Bridge Ii, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 40:

Your constant pestering is getting old.

Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over time.

We're having a good old time.

My next car will be a big old SUV.

My wife makes the best little old apple pie in Texas.

any old

A grammatical intensifier, often used in describing something positive, and combined with another adjective.

Finally, when they were all done slobbering around, old Sally introduced us.

1951, J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 165:

(informal, of a person) Indicating affection and familiarity.

Monsieur's story is too old for our Juvenile Magazine.

1868, Oliver Optic's Magazine: Our Boys and Girls ..., page 431:

The text is too old for toddlers, but the colorful photographs are large enough and appropriate for them.

1998, Rita Schrank, Science, Math, and Nutrition for Toddlers: Setting the Stage for Serendipity:

Diane Ehrensaft (1997) finds that middle-class parents typically buy "older" toys for their children to encourage accelerated development.

2006 January 9, Christine L. Williams, Inside Toyland: Working, Shopping, and Social Inequality, Univ of California Press, →ISBN, page 219:

If you feel you have to leave something out because it's too horrible, then either the story is too old for the child, or you fail to understand the way your child will accept the rough justice and feel inwardly content at the outcome.

2019 12, Sean David Burke, Lighting the Literacy Fire, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 131:

Bluey: Oh! It's like checkers!
Bandit: Yeah, but a lot harder than checkers.
Chilli: And so probably a bit old for Bluey, right?

2021, Joe Brumm, “Chest”, in Bluey, season 3, episode 11:

Designed for a mature audience; unsuitable for children below a certain age.

URSULA: Madam, you must come to your uncle. Yonder's old coil at home: it is proved, my Lady Hero hath been falsely accused, the prince and Claudio mightily abused;

1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:

en-adj

old (comparative older or elder, superlative oldest or eldest or (US, dialectal) oldermost)

older (comparative)
elder (comparative)
oldest (superlative)
eldest (superlative)
oldermost (US dialectal superlative)

ancient

having existed for a long period of time

aged

having existed or lived for the specified time

brand new

antonym(s) of “having existed for a long period of time”

young

antonym(s) of “having lived for many years”

as demure as an old whore at a christening

Some Old Hippie Caught Another Hippie Tripping On Acid

there's many a good tune played on an old fiddle

you can't put an old head on young shoulders

ажә

of an object, concept, etc: having existed for a relatively long period of time

жъы

of a living being: having lived for relatively many years

que tener + period of time + unit of time

Inherited from Middle English olde, ald, from Old English ald, eald (“old, aged, ancient, antique, primeval”), from Proto-West Germanic *ald, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz (“grown-up”), originally a participle form, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eltós (“grown, tall, big”). Cognate with Scots auld (“old”), North Frisian ool, ual, uul (“old”), Saterland Frisian oold (“old”), West Frisian âld (“old”), Dutch oud (“old”), Low German old (“old”), German alt (“old”), Swedish äldre (“older, elder”), Icelandic eldri (“older, elder”), Latin altus (“high, tall, grown big, lofty”). Related to eld.

cog

Latin altus (“high, tall, grown big, lofty”)


old

A civilised society should always look after the old in the community.

(with the, invariable plural only) People who are old; old beings; the older generation, taken as a group.

Near-synonyms: geezer, oldie, oldster; see also Thesaurus:old person

I'm not letting an old wreck my good time today.

I'm not letting any olds wreck my good time today.

(slang) A person older than oneself, especially an adult in relation to a teenager.

I had to sneak out to meet my girlfriend and tell the olds I was going to the library.

(slang, most often plural) One's parents.

We crossed to the pub on the corner of Carlisle Street and I ordered two schooners of old for him and one of light for me.

2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 117:

(Australia, uncountable) A typically dark-coloured lager brewed by the traditional top-fermentation method.

en-noun

old (countable and uncountable, plural olds)