Meanings
old age1
- uncountableThe latter part of life, when one is an older adult; especially, the years from age 65 onward.
A ripe old age.
1 more example
People often become hard of hearing in old age.
Synonyms: golden years, codgerhood, eld, age, chair days, codgerhood, eld, elderliness
- uncountableA cause of death representing natural death through the expected accumulation of health problems in advanced age.
Old Age2
- The mainstream of Western culture, especially as existed prior to the New Age movement.
1 more example
I have often wondered what's so "new" about the New Age; its basic tenets that we can completely create our own reality and that everything happens for a reason, to teach some sort of lesson, have always seemed to me to carry the same message as the "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" philosophy of the Old Age.
1988 December 11, Kiki Zeldes, “New Age: Cult Out Of Control”, in Gay Community News, volume 16, number 22, page 4
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe latter part of life, when one is an older adult; especially, the years from age 65 onward.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englisholde age
- Englishold age
From Middle English olde age, eld age; compare earlier Middle English olde elde (“old age”), alderelde (“old age”), equivalent to old + age. Displaced wholly non-native Middle English vilesse (“old age”) (borrowed from Old French villesce, vieillece (“old age”)) and senectute (“old age”) (from Latin senectūs (“old age”)).
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek γῆρας
- γῆρας (gêras)latter part of life
Arabic شَيْخُوخَة, عُجُوز
- شَيْخُوخَة (šayḵūḵa)latter part of life
- عُجُوز (ʕujūz)latter part of life
- كِبْر سِنّ (kibr sinn)latter part of life
Bulgarian ста́рост
- ста́рост (stárost)latter part of life
Catalan vellesa
- vellesalatter part of life
Chinese Mandarin 晚年, 老年
- 晚年 (wǎnnián)latter part of life
- 老年 (lǎonián)latter part of life
- 老年期 (lǎoniánqī)latter part of life
Czech stáří
- stářílatter part of life
Danish alderdom
- alderdomlatter part of life
Dutch ouderdom
- ouderdomlatter part of life
Esperanto maljuneco, oldeco
- maljunecolatter part of life
- oldecolatter part of life
Finnish vanhuus
- vanhuuslatter part of life
French troisième âge, vieillesse
- troisième âgelatter part of life
- vieillesselatter part of life
German hohes Alter, Alter
- hohes Alterlatter part of life
- Alterlatter part of life
Greek γεράματα, γηρατειά
- γεράματα (gerámata)latter part of life
- γηρατειά (girateiá)latter part of life
- τρίτη ηλικία (tríti ilikía)latter part of life
Hebrew זִקְנָה, זְקוּנִים
- זִקְנָה (zikná)latter part of life
- זְקוּנִים (z'kuním)latter part of life
Hindi बुढ़ापा, वृद्धावस्था
- बुढ़ापा (buṛhāpā)latter part of life
- वृद्धावस्था (vŕddhāvasthā)latter part of life
Hungarian öregség, öregkor
- öregséglatter part of life
- öregkorlatter part of life
- időskorlatter part of life
- aggkorlatter part of life
Indonesian masa tua
- masa tualatter part of life
Irish foirfeacht, aostacht
- foirfeachtlatter part of life
- aostachtlatter part of life
Italian vecchiaia
- vecchiaialatter part of life
Japanese 晩年, 老年
- 晩年 (bannen)latter part of life
- 老年 (rōnen)latter part of life
Korean 노년, 만년
- 노년 (nonyeon)latter part of life
- 만년 (mannyeon)latter part of life
Latin senectūs, senium
- senectūslatter part of life
- seniumlatter part of life
Latvian vecums, vecība
- vecumslatter part of life
- vecībalatter part of life
Māori koroheketanga, nehe
- koroheketangalatter part of life
- nehelatter part of life
- mātāpūpututangalatter part of life
- kaumātuatangalatter part of life
Norwegian Bokmål alderdom
- alderdomlatter part of life
Persian پیری, زرمان
- پیری (piri)latter part of life
- زرمان (zarmân)latter part of life
- کهنسالی (kohansâli)latter part of life
- سالخوردگی (sâlxordegi)latter part of life
Polish starość
- starośćlatter part of life
Portuguese velhice, terceira idade
- velhicelatter part of life
- terceira idadelatter part of life
- melhor idadelatter part of life
Romanian bătrânețe
- bătrânețelatter part of life
Russian ста́рость
- ста́рость (stárostʹ)latter part of life
Slovak staroba
- starobalatter part of life
Spanish vejez, tercera edad
- vejezlatter part of life
- tercera edadlatter part of life
Swahili ushaibu, uzee
- ushaibulatter part of life
- uzeelatter part of life
Swedish ålderdom
- ålderdomlatter part of life
Tamil முதுமை
- முதுமை (mutumai)latter part of life
Thai วัยสูงอายุ
- วัยสูงอายุ (wai sŏong aayú)latter part of life
Turkish yaşlılık
- yaşlılıklatter part of life
Ukrainian ста́рість
- ста́рість (stáristʹ)latter part of life
Urdu بڑھاپا
- بڑھاپا (buṛhāpā)latter part of life
Vietnamese tuổi già
- tuổi giàlatter part of life
Yiddish זקונים, זקנה
- זקונים (zkunem)latter part of life
- זקנה (zikne)latter part of life
- אַלטערהייט (alterheyt)latter part of life
- אַלטקייט (altkeyt)latter part of life
Cite this entry
old age. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/old%20age
“old age.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/old%20age. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “old age,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/old%20age.
Source: old age on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.