Dictionary

eldmother en · NOUN

Etymology

From Middle English eldmoder, from Old English eald mōdor (“grandmother”), equivalent to eld (“old”) + mother. Cognate with Scots eldmoder, eldmother (“mother-in-law”), Old Frisian aldemōder.

Meanings

1. (archaic, dialectal) One's grandmother or other female ancestor, or one's mother-in-law.
   • Item I gyve vnto my eldmother his wyffe my wyffes froke and a read petticote and a smoke. 1571 November 5, John Heworth of Gatisheid, Will, in Wills and Inventories from the Registry at Durham (1835)
   • John Morpeth [...] saith that, on Sondaie last [...] the said John Robson said to the said Arthure, "Thou haiest a witch to thy eldmother[.]" 1586 July 15, “Isabel Chamber against John Robson in Causa Defamationis”, in Depositions and Other Ecclesiastical Proceedings from the Courts ... of Durham, published 1845:

Forms

Relateds

eldfather