olden
/ˈoʊldn̩/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.84 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "olden days, olden times"
- ""You are right to some extent in what you say. In the olden days people had a stronger belief in all kinds of witchery; now they pretend not to believe in it, that they may be looked upon as sensible and educated people, as you say.""
- "In olden days, a glimpse of stockings Was looked on as something shocking; Now, heaven knows, Anything goes."
- "We […] told over the story of past sufferings, and renewed olden vows of devotion."
- "Beowulf, behind his shield, thrust forth only his right arm. In it he had picked up the sword of Ing, well known in olden lore."
- "Of all Sedley's opponents in his debates with his creditors which now ensued, and harassed the feelings of the humiliated old gentleman so severely, that in six weeks he oldened more than he had done for fifteen years before—the most determined and obstinate seemed to be John Osborne, his old friend and neighbour […]"
Etymology
From Middle English olden, probably originally an inflected plural form of old (compare Old English ealdum, dative plural of eald (“old”)), but later reanalysed as equivalent to old + -en (“made of”). Otherwise derived from Old Norse aldinn (“ancient, old”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈoʊldn̩/
- British English: /ˈəʊl.dn̩/