the elder
noun
1
—used in comparing the ages of two people who are members of the same family
He's the elder of her two brothers.
2
—used to refer to the older of two people (such as a father and son) who have the same name
Pliny the Elder and his nephew Pliny the Younger
Examples of the elder in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Double Gold Long considered the elder statesman of the Jameson family, the 18-YO is a masterful blend of two pot-still whiskeys and a single-grain whiskey, matured in European and American oak, then finished in first-fill bourbon barrels.
—
Joseph V Micallef, Forbes.com, 30 May 2026
On a hilltop, there is assembled a Gacaca, one of the elder-run community courts established as part of Rwanditude, the national reconciliation program designed to break the cycle of insidiously intimate neighbor-on-neighbor violence and enmity that characterized the conflict.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 26 May 2026
Qassem phoned the elder of his two sons, Ali, who, like his uncle, Samih, had joined the Lebanese security forces.
—Rania Abouzeid, New Yorker, 21 May 2026
Lazer, the elder, built Concrete Media into a PR firm that helped launch over 100 startups.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 20 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for the elder
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Joseph V Micallef, Forbes.com, 30 May 2026
On a hilltop, there is assembled a Gacaca, one of the elder-run community courts established as part of Rwanditude, the national reconciliation program designed to break the cycle of insidiously intimate neighbor-on-neighbor violence and enmity that characterized the conflict.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 26 May 2026
Qassem phoned the elder of his two sons, Ali, who, like his uncle, Samih, had joined the Lebanese security forces.
—Rania Abouzeid, New Yorker, 21 May 2026
Lazer, the elder, built Concrete Media into a PR firm that helped launch over 100 startups.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 20 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for the elder
Cite this Entry
“The elder.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20elder. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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