From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishelderel‧der1 /ˈeldə $ -ər/ ●●○ adjective especially British English the elder of two people, especially brothers and sisters, is the one who was born first OPP youngerelder brother/son/sister/daughter etc His elder son Liam became a lawyer. Sarah is the elder of the two. ► Don’t say ‘elder than someone’. Say older than someone: She was two years older than me.
Examples from the Corpus
elder• John's elder brother died in a boating accident.• But his elder brother John thinks that he knew better what the score was than he ever let on.• His elder brother, Nails, still at school, played water-polo for the town and stole cars.• Bruch suggests that a significantly large proportion of anorexics are eldest or elder daughters.• And the elder Miss Snoot at her window high up in Old Odborough looks over the roofs of the town.• In contrast, Jane Alexander as the elder sister and Robert Klein as her bulky beau are hitched to plows.• Wright's elder sister is also an actor.• Polyneices, the elder son, did the same.elder brother/son/sister/daughter etc• In character he was very different from his dead elder brother.• Also present were Bracy Clark and his elder brother, Henry.• Midge had lost an elder brother, killed by a shell on his nineteenth birthday in the Second World War.• Their elder son, Nicky, had disappeared on his motorcycle in a cloud of dust and anger.• The elder son of the Rev.• It was initially his elder brother, Sir Richard Damory, who was more prominent.• The elder brother was shot in the stomach as he knelt pleading for mercy.• On top of all this was the constant need to defend his religion against a clever elder brother who was an atheist.elderelder2 ●○○ noun [countable] 1 → be somebody’s elder2 → somebody’s elders (and betters)3 OLD/NOT YOUNGa member of a tribe or other social group who is important and respected because they are old a meeting of the village elders4 RRCsomeone who has an official position of responsibility in some Christian churches5 → elder abuse6 HBPa small wild tree that has white flowers and black berriesExamples from the Corpus
elder• The ancestors rarely act on their own initiative: generally these avenging angels of justice are invoked by the local elder.• I myself have watched many elders labour over their paintings and pour spiritual potency into these creations.• Classical music elders may turn up their noses, but so far, the antics are working.• Such elders may have given positive meaning to experiences of anxiety, poverty, chronic illness, multiple losses and death.• At a very early age children learn to self-justify, because they learn it from their elders who are continuously doing it.• It is natural enough for them to want to acquire knowledge from their elders.• the tribal elders• However, as stories so often show, what elders say youth disregards.Origin elder1 Old English ieldra, from eald “old” elder2 1. → ELDER12. Old English ellærn 