old, older

The everyday word for someone advanced in age is old. Old is also applied to anything in existence of long standing or that originated in a prior age: "an old man," "an old church," "an old map," "an old poem," "an old model," "an old family." Older is the comparative of old: "This house is older than that one." Old is an overused word for which any one of several related words might be substituted: aged, ancient, venerable, elderly, advanced, senile, veteran, senescent, antiquated, antique. Old appears in many loose, trite, or slangy expressions such as "old hat," "old bean," "good old times," "old boy," "old chap," "old country," "old fellow," "old goat," "Old Nick" and "Old Scratch"' (Satan),"old lady," "old man," "old school tie," "old-timer," "old wives' tale," "old fogy," "old-world," "in days of old," and "old head on young shoulders."