alder
UK /ˈɔːldə/ · US [ˈɑl.dɚ] noun, proper noun
Forms alders owler aller Older
- noun Any of several trees or shrubs of the genus Alnus, belonging to the birch family.
- noun An alderman or alderwoman.
- proper noun A topographic surname from Middle English for someone who lived by alder trees.
Synonyms
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English aldre, alder, aller, from Old English alor, from Proto-West Germanic *aluʀu, from Proto-Germanic *aluz, *alusō, *alizō, *alisō.
Clipping of alderman.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A tree, usually growing in moist land, and belonging to the genus Alnus. The wood is used by turners, etc.; the bark by dyers and tanners. In the U. S. the species of alder are usually shrubs or small trees. Black alder. (a) A European shrub (Rhamnus frangula); Alder buckthorn. (b) An American species of holly (Ilex verticillata), bearing red berries.
- adjective Of all; --used in composition; as, alderbest, best of all, alderwisest, wisest of all. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Etymology [OE. aldir, aller, fr. AS. alr, aler, alor, akin to D. els, G. erle, Icel. erlir, erli, Swed. al, Dan. elle, el, L. alnus, and E. elm.]
Etymology [From ealra, alra, gen. pl. of AS. eal. The d is excrescent.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “alder”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details