old moneyadj.n.
/ˌəʊld ˈmʌni/, U.S. /ˌoʊl(d) ˈməni/ A. adj.
Usually with hyphen. Possessing or characteristic of old-established wealth.
ΚΠ
1963 Times 25 Feb. (Canada Suppl.) p. xv/3 The Canadian rich, particularly the old-money rich, tend to dwell among exquisite eighteenth-century chattels.
1992 Atlantic Feb. 41/1 After a faux pas like showing too much enthusiasm at an old-money business meeting?
2001 Time 8 Oct. 79/3 Pasedena rips open the snake's nest of the Greeleys, an old-money media-baron clan.
B. n.
1.
a. Old-established wealth, esp. wealth which a person has inherited rather than earned.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > wealth > wealth or riches > [noun] > ancient or old-established
old money1966
1966 ‘D. Shannon’ With Vengeance i. 22 There's a lot o' money—kind of substantial old money, you know—her husband was a banker.
1984 J. Burchill Apocalypse Now (Please) in Sex & Sensibility (1992) 186 The comfort of suicide always there, like old money to fall back on should all else fail.
1992 Watertown (N.Y.) Daily Times 9 Feb. h5/2 George Bush carries the patina of old money and good breeding.
2001 Independent 3 Feb. (Review section) 18/2 Complete with fairy-tale tower, his crenellated fastness was casually strewn with the appurtences of old money.
b. People who possess such wealth, regarded as a class.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > wealth > [noun] > rich or wealthy person > people of established wealth
old-rich1927
old money1971
1971 ‘A. Cross’ Theban Myst. (1972) ii. 13 She subtly altered the school's acceptances away from a predominance of old money toward those who were nouveaux riches enough still to be vigorous.
1986 S. Churcher N.Y. Confidential i. 9 The class system, by their account, breaks down into (1) Old Money, (2) New Money, and (3) the peasantry.
2002 Interzone Mar. 51/1 He was old money, as his..double-barrelled surname would suggest.
2. British. Predecimal currency; pounds, shillings and pence. Esp. in in old money (also in extended use, with reference to any pre-metric or imperial unit).
ΚΠ
1970 Times 31 Dec. 3 (advt.) The Shoppers' Table, which will enable you to see at a glance what the new prices would be in the old money.
1977 J. Parsons Population Fallacies xvi. 235 We can look at a small child's weekly pocket-money, allowing, say 0.5 per cent of the GNP per head, 7 1/2 new pence in 1970 (1s 6d in old money).
1988 Times (Nexis) 6 Mar. The East German's familiar hungry, loping stride carried her safely to 7.30 metres (virtually 24 ft in old money).
1998 N. Lawson How to Eat (1999) 248 You need a fat disc, about ½cm or so thick (¼ inch in old money), slightly bigger than the diameter of the pie dish.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1963- out of distance
- out of dock
- out of door
- out of doors
- out of doubt
- out of drawing
- out of earshot
- out of earshot of
- out of edge
- out of employ
- out of employment
- out of estate
- out of expectation
- out of expectations
- out of eyeshot
- out of eyesight
- out of fashion
- out of favor
- out of fit
- out of focus
- out of form
- out of from wit or one's wit
- out of gearing
- out of god's blessing into the warm sun
- out of god's christ's blessing into the warm sun