Nestor

noun

Nes·​tor ˈne-stər 

-ˌstȯr

1

: a king of Pylos who serves in his old age as a counselor to the Greeks at Troy

2

often not capitalized : one who is a patriarch or leader in a field

Did you know?

Nestor was another character from the Iliad, the eldest of the Greek leaders in the Trojan War. A great warrior as a young man, he was now noted for his wisdom and his talkativeness, both of which increased as he aged. These days, a nestor is not necessarily long-winded, but merely wise and generous with his advice.

Synonyms

• dean
• doyen
• elder
• elder statesman
• éminence grise
• senior

Examples of Nestor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Miami’s offense, meanwhile, mustered just two hits in eight innings against Yankees starter and Hialeah native Nestor Cortes — with both of those hits coming from Bryan De La Cruz. —Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 9 Apr. 2024

Knight and McGee head in to check it out and are momentarily startled to see a human-sized green-skinned alien, which turns out to be a dummy belonging to another dummy: Galactic Watch Society radio operator Nestor Quinn (Tommy Snider). —Sara Netzley, EW.com, 1 Apr. 2024

Lefties Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodón will lead the rotation after injuries and poor performance derailed their 2023 campaigns. —Daniel R. Epstein, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024

Hoping for bounce-back performances from Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodon. —Daniel Kohn, SPIN, 27 Mar. 2024

The leftist governments of Nestor Kirchner and his wife, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, in the early 2000s advanced Argentina’s historical reckoning. —Isabel Debre, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Mar. 2024

Those include segments for the Tijuana River in San Ysidro and Otay Mesa, Nestor Creek in South Bay, Norfolk Canyon Creek in the College Area, the San Diego River in Point Loma, Soledad Canyon Creek in Sorrento Valley and Los Peñasquitos Creek in Rancho Peñasquitos, among others. —Kristen Taketa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Mar. 2024

After his mother died, Nestor, who was then twelve, came to the U.S. to live with Gaetz, who was in his early thirties. —Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024

The advisory was later expanded to include a small portion of Chula Vista and certain parts of neighborhoods within the city of San Diego, including Nestor, Otay Mesa and San Ysidro. —Lori Weisberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Aug. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Latin, from Greek Nestōr

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1