The story
- Old English · inherited fromeald man
- Middle English · inherited fromalde mann
- English todayold man
From Middle English alde mann, aldman, elde man, oldeman, from Old English eald man.
First known use, by meaning
- from 19th c. Used attributively to denote something of exceptional size, strength, age etc.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.