† eldmothern.
Obsolete exc. dialect.
1. A grandmother.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > grandparent > [noun] > grandmother
eldmotherc1000
grandamc1225
good-dame1400
grandmother1424
beldamc1440
lucky1629
granny1659
grandmama1694
lucky minnie1755
grandma1772
grandmammy1789
gran1829
babushka1834
abuela1836
grandmom1860
grandmum1861
grammy1886
dadi1888
minnie1888
grams1893
bubbe1895
nana1899
gram1923
nanny1927
lola1934
abuelita1937
oma1948
nain1954
nan1955
makulu1980
omi1988
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 173 Auia, ealde modor.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 1189 Abel..had his eldmoder maiden-hede.
c1425 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 672 Hec auia, eldmoder.
2. (a) A mother-in-law. (b) A stepmother.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > mother > [noun] > mother-in-law
mother-in-lawa1382
eldmotherc1440
good-mother1491
mother-law1526
mother-of-law1538
mother1589
mother-on-law1670
mama-in-law1855
ma-in-law1899
mum-in-law1975
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 137 Eld modyr [King's Cambr. elmoder], socrus.
1519 Will of Robert Payne (P.R.O.: PROB. 11/19) f. 149v To Margaret Shelle myne Elmother, a melche neete.
1553 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Eneados ii. viii. 112 Eldmoder to ane hunder, thare saw I Heccuba.
1571 in J. Raine Wills & Inventories N. Counties Eng. (1835) I. 352 I gyue vnto my eldmother his wyffe my wyffes froke.
1674 J. Ray N. Countrey Words in Coll. Eng. Words 16 An Elmother. Cumb. A Step Mother.
1864 Whitby Gloss. Elmother, step-mother.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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