elder 
compare Kuss. kalinn, elder.] The common 
name for species of Kamlim-ns. i 'in- unliiini j ei.ier 
of Europe l-s .S'. ninra. and that of North AIIHT|<-:I is .S'.Ca- 
nit'li-Hii* both with black-purple h.nirs, well known :u 
shrubs of rapid growth, tin- stems i-onluininu an 111111-11:1! 
amount of jiith. The red-berried elder of the I'nitcil 
stal.-- i- .S'. r'iixa, anil Hit- dwarf or ground elder nl 
Europe is .S. Khiiliitt. From tile dried pith of the elder-tree 
Imlls for elei-tiii-d pnr|insf.s are m;uk-. The wood is also 
used for inferior turnery-work, weavers' shuttles, netting 
pins, anil shoemakers' pegs. 
Laurel for a garland, or flilfr for a disgrace. 
Lylii, Alexander and Campuspe, Epll. 
Box-elder, the \egundo aeeroittfn, a North American 
tree, oft. n i uliiviited for shade. Dwarf elder, of Ja- 
nuiica, thi- I'ilfti yraiidu a sutfrutcsccnt niticuceous 
Plant with large elder-like leaves. Marsh-elder, of the 
lilted .States, Jmi frutetceiu. Poison elder, the poi- 
son sumac, Khus veiunatn.fMA, rose, or white elder, 
of Europe, the guelder-rose, Viburnum Opulus. Also 
called water-elder. Wild elder, (a) In England, the 
ashweed. .11 ri'i>ilhim J'odayraria. Also called bishop's- 
elder. (b) In the United States, the AnUia higpida. 
elderberry (el'der-ber*'!), n. ; pi. elderberries 
(-iz). [<cWer2 -f hcrn/i.] The purplish-black 
drupaceous fruit of the elder, Samoucus nii/m 
and 5. Canatlcnsix, having an acidulous and 
sweetish taste, and used for making a kind of 
wine. The inspissated juice is employed as an 
aperient and a diuretic. 
That elderberries are poison, as we are taught by tradi- 
tion, experience will unteach us. 
Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., li. 7. 
elderess (el'der-es), n. A female elder, 
elderfathert, See eldfather. 
elder-gun (erder-gun), n. A popgun made of 
elder-wood by extracting the pith. 
That's a perilous shot out of an elder gun, that a poor 
and private displeasure can do against a monarch ! 
Shale., Hen. V., iv. 1. 
If he give not back his crown again upon the report of 
an elder-gun, I have no augury. 
Beau, and Fl., Philaster, 1. 1. 
elderly (el'der-li), a. [< elder 1 + -ly 1 .] Some- 
what old ; advanced beyond middle age ; bor- 
dering on old age : as, elderly people. 
I knew them all as babies, and now they're elderly men. 
Tennyson, The Grandmother. 
= Sy n. Old, etc. See aged. 
eldernH (el'dern), a. [Also eldren; < elder* + 
-.] Elder; elderly; aged. 
Then out it speaks an eldren knight. . . . 
" O hand your tongue, ye eldren man, 
And bring me not to shame." 
Tanm-Line (Child's Ballads, I. 260). 
eldern 2 t (el'dern), a. [< elder? + -n, for -en. 
Of. ME. ellern, etc., elder.] Of elder; made of 
elder ; belonging to the elder. 
Hee would discharge us as boyes do eldcme gunnes 
one pellet to strike out another. 
Ularston and Webster, Malcontent, iv. 4. 
Nettles are put in pottage, and sallats are made of eldern- 
buds. fuller, Holy State, L Y. 2. 
eldership (el'der-ship), n. [< elder 1 + -ship."} 
1. Seniority ; the state of being older. [Bare 
or obsolete.] 
No other dominion than paternity and eldership. 
Kaleigh, Hist. World, I. ix. 1. 
Though Truth and Falsehood are as twins ally'd, 
There's eldership on Truth's delightful side. 
Parnell, Donne's Third Satire Versified. 
2. The office of an elder : as, he was elected to 
the eldership. 3. A body or an order of elders. 
No repeated crambes of Christ's discipline, of Elders 
and Elderships, ... no engine was capable to buoy up 
Presbytery. Bp. Gauden, Tears of the Church, p. 17. 
elder-tree (el'der-tre), n. See elder%. 
elder-Wine (el'der-win), n. A wine made from 
elderberries, usually with the addition of some 
spirit. 
eldest (el'dest), a. sunerl. [< ME. eldc.il, <!- 
deste, ealdeste, oldest, < AS. yldesta, superl. of 
cald, old. The form oldest is mod., < old + 
-est; cf. elder 1 , a.] Oldest; most advanced in 
age; that was born first: as, the eldest son or 
daughter. 
Then he (the king of Moab) took hlse(d son that should 
have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt of- 
fering upon the wall. 2 Ki. iii. 27. 
O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven ; 
It huth the primal eldest curse upon 't. 
A brother's murther ! Shak., Hamlet, iii. 3. 
Eldest hand. See Intnl. 
eldfathert, . [< ME. eldfader, eldefader, aid- 
fader, < AS. ealdfirdrr, alilfirder (= OPries. al- 
dufcdrr, nldfitdrr), grandfather, < eald, old, + 
fffder, father : see old (and eld) and fa ther. Cf. 
tidmother.] \. A grandfather. 
The wyt of hire fadir or of hire rldefadir. 
Chaucer, Boctuius, il. prose 4. 
2. A father-in-law, 
eldin, n. See eldiny. 
1865 
elding (el'ding), n. [E. dial. Also eilding, el- 
ilin, clden (and eel-thing), < ME. "elding, ei/l- 
itijnij, < led. i liliny (= Dan. ilding), fuel, < c/ilr 
= Dan. iltl, fire: see anneal 1 .] If. Firewood; 
fuel. J'rompt. Pan., p. 136. 
Ye'll lie wanting eildiny now, or something to pitt ower 
the winter. Scott, Guy Mannerlng, xlv. 
2. Kubbish. Hallivell. 
eldmothert, . [< ME. eldmoder, < AS. eald- 
mudor (= OFries. aldemoder, aldmoder), grand- 
mother, < eald, old, + modor, mother : see old 
(and eld) and mother. Cf. eldfather.] 1. A 
grandmother. 
Eldmoder to ane bunder thar saw I Hecuba. 
(,'un/i Douglas, tr. of Virgil, p. 64. 
2. A mother-in-law. Halliicell. 
Item. I gyve vnto my eldmoder his [the father-in- 
law's] wyffe, my wytfes froke anil a read pettlcote. 
Will /1571 (cited In Prompt. Parv., ed. Way, p. 138). 
El Dorado (el do-ra'do). [Sp., lit. the gold- 
en: el, the (< L'. ille, that); dorado, pp. of 
dorar, gild: see dorado and deaurate.] A 
country rich beyond all precedent in gold and 
jewels, which the early Spanish explorers be- 
lieved to exist somewhere in the new world, 
and which Orellaua averred that he had found 
in his voyage down the Amazon in 1540-41. 
This was soon disproved, but the search was continued 
down to the eighteenth century, and the name has be- 
come a synonym for any region said to abound in the 
means of easily acquired wealth. It was used with spe- 
cific reference to California for some years after the dis- 
covery of gold there in 1848. Sometimes written as one 
word: as, the Eldorado of the West. 
My sick brother, as In hospital-maladies men do, thou 
dreamest of Paradises and El Dorados, which are far from 
thee. Carlyle. 
In Eldorado, we are told, the children in the streets 
play with nuggets of gold instead of marbles. 
Fortnightly Ken., N. S., XL. 98. 
eldrich, eldritch (el'drich), a. [Sc., also for- 
merly spelled elriche, elrische, elraige, elricic, al- 
risch, alleriuli, airy, elphrish, etc.; origin un- 
certain.] Hideous; ghastly; wild; weird; pre- 
ternatural. 
She heard strange elritch sounds 
Upon that wind which went. 
'//..- Young Tamlane (Child's Ballads, I. 123). 
His lengthen'd chin, his turn d up snout, 
II is eldritch squeal and gestures. 
Burns, Holy Fair. 
Elean (e'le-an), a. Same as Eliac. 
Eleatic (el-e-at'ik), a. and . [< L. Eleaticus, 
also Eleates, pertaining to Elea. Gr. 'E/Uo, L. 
also Velia and Helta, orig. called (by its Greek 
founders) "Cfari, i. e. (prob.), *pr/.tf, < tv.of, orig. 
"pttof, amarsh, low ground by rivers.] I. a. Of 
or pertaining to Elea (Latin Velio), an ancient 
Greek town in southern Italy or Magna Grrecia ; 
specifically, an epithet given to a school of 
Greek philosophy founded by Xenophanes of 
Colophon, who resided in Elea. The most distin- 
guished philosophers of this school were Parmenides and 
Zeno. The main Eleatic doctrines are developments of 
the conception that the One, or Absolute, alone Is real. 
II. n. 1. An inhabitant of Elea. 2. An ad- 
herent of the Eleatic philosophy. 
Eleaticism(el-e-at'i-sizm), n. [(. Eleatic + -ism.] 
The doctrines of the Eleatic school of philoso- 
phy. 
elec. An abbreviation of electric and electricity. 
elecampane (eFe-kam-pan'), n. [Formerly eli- 
cam/ifiHe, tilecam/iane, alycompaine, heliecampa- 
nie (the first part being al- 
tered appar. in simulation 
of the L. name heleniutn = 
Gr. ttiviav (> AS. elene)-. < 
OF. enule-campane, < ML. 
inula campana, elecam- 
pane: L. inula, elecam- 
pane, perhaps an accom. 
of helenium, < Gr. l).fviov, a 
plant supposed to be ele- 
campane; ML. campana, 
prob. for crtnipania, fern, of 
the field, < i,.campus, a field: 
see campaign, champagne.] 
1. The common name of Inula Helenium, u 
coarse stout composite plant, a native of cen- 
tral Europe and Asia, sometimes cultivated, 
and often found naturalized in meadows and 
pastures in the eastern United States. It was 
one of the most famous of old medicines, having a special 
reputation in all pulmonary affections, and it is still used 
as a domestic remedy for various complaints. 
Seed-jiertrl were jrimil now, boiled with syrup of apples, 
Tincture of cold, ami coral, citron pills, 
Your elicainpanr root, myrobalanes. 
B. Junwn, Volpone. 111. 2. 
Elecampane I Inula Ittte- 
electicism 
2. A coarae sweetmeat, professedly made from 
the root of the plant, but really composed of 
little else than colored sugar. 
He borrowed from every one of the pupils I don't 
know how he spent it except in hardbake and atycom- 
j"t'in'. Thackeray, Newcomer, xxv. 
elect (e-lekf), r. t. [< L. clcctiui, pp. of eligere 
(> It. elegi/crc = Sp. Pg. elegir = F. elire), pick 
out, choose, elect (= Gr. txteytiv, pick out, 
choose, > ult. E. eclectic), < e, out, + legere, pick 
out, pick, gather, collect, etc.: see legend. Cf. 
collect, select.] 1. To pick out; select from 
among a number ; specifically, in theol., to se- 
lect, especially as an object of divine mercy or 
favor. See election, 6. 
The breath of worldly men cannot depose 
The deputy elected by the Lord. 
Shot., Rich. II., 111. 2. 
He lost nothing of ... devotion to the sublime enter- 
prise to which he held himself elected from his Infancy by 
the promises of <iod. Bancroft, Hist. L'. 8., I. 6. 
If Orcagna's work was elected to survive the ravages of 
time, it Is a happy chance that it should be balanced by a 
group of performances of such a different temper. 
U. Jama, Jr., Trans. Sketches, p. 322. 
Hence 2. To select for an office or employ- 
ment by a majority or plurality (according to 
agreement) of votes ; choose by ballot or any 
similar method : as, to elect a representative or 
a senator; to elect a president or mayor. 
After the Death of Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury, 
the Monks of that Convent secretly In the Night elected 
one Reginald, their Sub-Prior, to succeed him. 
Baker, Chronicles, p. 73. 
3. To choose ; prefer ; determine in favor of. 
Of his Deghter by dene, that were dere holdyn, 
One Creusa was cald kyndly by nome, 
That Eneas afterward Klit to wed, 
That spokyn is of specially In our apede after. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1491. 
They have been, by the means that they elected, carried 
beyond the end that they designed. 
Boyle, Essay on Scripture. 
Yourself elected law should take its course, 
Avenge wrong, or show vengeance not your right. 
Browning, Ring and Book, I. 149. 
= Syn. Select, Prefer, etc. See choose. 
elect (e-lekf), a. and n. [= F. elit = Sp. electo 
= Pg.' eleito = It. eletto, < L. electus, pp. : see 
elect, v. t.] I. a. 1. Chosen; selected from 
among a number ; taken in preference to others ; 
specifically, in theol., chosen as the special ob- 
jects of mercy or divine favor ; chosen to eter- 
nal life. 
The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I 
love in the truth. 2 John 1. 
Some I have chosen of peculiar grace, 
Elect above the rest. Milton, P. L, III. 184. 
Thrilling with the electric touch of sacred leaves, he saw 
in vision, like Dante, that small procession of the elder 
poets to which only .-/-.' centuries can add another lau- 
relled head. Lotcell, Among my Books, 2d ser., p. 310. 
2. Chosen to an office, as by vote, but not yet in- 
augurated, consecrated, or invested with office : 
in this sense usually after the noun : as, gov- 
ernor or mayor elect. 3. Of such a nature as 
to merit choice or preference ; noble ; exalted. 
Emerson . . . stood hale and serene and sane, elect and 
beautiful in every aspect of his mind. 
Harper's Mag., LXXVI. 478. 
II. n. sing, or pi. 1. A person or persons 
chosen or set apart ; one or more selected for a 
particular service or honor. 
Behold my servant, whom I uphold ; mine elect. In whom 
my soul delighteth. Isa. xlii. 1. 
These reverend fathers, . . . the elect of the land. 
Shot., Hen. VIII., ii. 4. 
The executive, the elect of the whole State, has In no in- 
stance any medium of communication with his constitu- 
ents, except through the legislature. 
Ji. A. Ret., CXX1IL 4. 
2. Those who are chosen by God to eternal life. 
He shall send his angels, . . . and they shall gather to- 
gether his eleet from the four winds. Mat. xxiv. 31. 
Tis true we all hold there is a number of elect, and many 
to be saved. Sir T. Brmrne, Religio Medici, L 60. 
As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath He, 
by the eternal and most free purpose of His will, foreor- 
dained all the means thereunto. 
Wett. Conf. of Faith, ill. i 6. 
elect. An abbreviation of electric and electricity. 
electantt (e-lek'tant), n. [< L. electan(t-)s, ppr. 
< if clectare, rare freq. of eligere, elect : see elect.] 
One having the power of choosing. 
You cannot go on further to entitle him a free electant 
too. A. Tucker, Light of Nature, II. iii. 26. 
electaryt (e-lek'ta-ri), . An obsolete form of 
. 
electicism (e-lek'ti-sizm), . An improper form 
of eclecticism. [Rare.] 
