Auld or old?
auld is an adjective meaning “Old”; old is an adjective meaning “Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) old is about 646 times as common as auld.
What is the difference between auld and old?
| auld | old | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective | adjective, noun, verb |
| Meaning | IrelandScotlandOld | Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years People who are old; old beings; the older generation, taken as a group |
| Example | none recorded | an old abandoned building |
| Forms | aulder, auldest | older, elder, oldest, eldest |
| Pronunciation | /oʊld/ /əʊld/ /ɑːld/ | /əʊld/ [ɒʊɫd] /əwld/ |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words | 562 times per million words |
Sources: auld and old in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of auld and old
auld
- 1
IrelandScotlandOld
old
- 1
Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time
an old abandoned building
- 2
People who are old; old beings; the older generation, taken as a group
A civilised society should always look after the old in the community
- 3
Pronunciation spelling of hold
- 4
Abbreviation of online dating
- 5
Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years
a wrinkled old man
- 6
slangA person older than oneself, especially an adult in relation to a teenager
Near-synonyms: geezer, oldie, oldster; see also Thesaurus:old person
- 7
Abbreviation of obsessive love disorder
- 8
Of a perishable item, having existed for most of, or more than, its shelf life
an old loaf of bread
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, auld or old?
auld appears about once in every 1 million words; old 562 times per million words.
auld about once in every 1 million wordsold 562 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).