eldfather

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English eldfader, variant of olde fader, from Old English eald fæder (“grandfather, ancestor”), equivalent to eld (“old”) +‎ father. Cognate with Scots eldfader (“grandfather, father-in-law”), Old Frisian aldafeder (“grandfather”). === Noun === eldfather (plural eldfathers) (dialectal, now archaic) One's grandfather or forefather. (obsolete) One's father-in-law. ==== Quotations ==== 1580–1581, Inventory of Christopher Forster, Feb. 15, 1580/1, in Wills and Inventories [...] from the Registry at Durham, part 3 (1906), page 86: He owes: To his eldfather, Georg Fenny, 4l. To Georg Dodsworth of Jolby, 50s. 1634–1635, Nicholas Rayne, Will, recording in The Acts of High Commission Court Within the Diocese of Durham (1858): On 5 March, 1634–5, "Nicholas Rayne of the Cittie of Durham, gentleman," makes his will, ordering his body to be buried "in the parish church of St. Nicholas, as neare my eldfather Charles Slingsbye, clerke, parson of Rothburye, as possible may be." ==== Related terms ==== elderfather === See also === eldmother