Dictionary

eldfather en · NOUN

Etymology

From Middle English eldfader, variant of olde fader, from Old English eald fæder (“grandfather, ancestor”), equivalent to eld (“old”) + father. Cognate with Scots eldfader (“grandfather, father-in-law”), Old Frisian aldafeder (“grandfather”).

Meanings

1. (archaic, dialectal) One's grandfather or forefather.
   • Elof sat with his eyes closed, still in the grip of the thought that he had just heard his eldfathers, all the way back to Adam, chanting at the table. 1975, Frederick Feikema Manfred, The chokecherry tree, page 19:
   • For some reason "rune" continued to be the most attractive of the two, though, truth to tell, there had been no more than the usual mention of the word either in my general reading or in the Frisian (the language of my eldfathers) […] 1994, Frederick Feikema Manfred, Duke's Mixture, page 12:
2. (obsolete) One's father-in-law.

Forms

Relateds

eldmother · elderfather