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Ancient vs Olifant - What's the difference?

ancient | olifant |

In obsolete terms the difference between ancient and olifant

is that ancient is a senior; an elder; a predecessor while olifant is an elephant.

As nouns the difference between ancient and olifant

is that ancient is a person who is very old while olifant is an elephant.

As an adjective ancient

is having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age; very old.

ancient

Alternative forms

* anchient, antient, aunchient, auncient, auntient, awncient, awntient (obsolete)

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • Having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age; very old.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
  • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=Foreword citation , passage=‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘An Alsatia like the ancient one behind the Strand, or the Saffron Hill before the First World War. […]’}}
  • Existent or occurring in time long past, usually in remote ages; belonging to or associated with antiquity; old, as opposed to modern.
  • * {{quote-book, year=2006, author=(Edwin Black), title=Internal Combustion
  • , chapter=2 citation , passage=Buried within the Mediterranean littoral are some seventy to ninety million tons of slag from ancient smelting, about a third of it concentrated in Iberia. This ceaseless industrial fueling caused the deforestation of an estimated fifty to seventy million acres of woodlands.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=(Henry Petroski)
  • , title= Geothermal Energy , volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.}}
  • (label) Relating to antiquity as a primarily European historical period; the time before the Middle Ages.
  • (obsolete) Experienced; versed.
  • * Berners
  • Though [he] was the youngest brother, yet he was the most ancient in the business of the realm.
  • (obsolete) Former; sometime.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • They mourned their ancient leader lost.

    Antonyms

    * modern

    Derived terms

    * Ancient Egypt * Ancient Greece * ancient lights * Ancient Macedonian * ancient pyramid * Ancient Rome * ancientry

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A person who is very old.
  • A person who lived in ancient times.
  • (heraldry, archaic) A flag, banner, standard or ensign.
  • * 1719 ,
  • I got all things ready as he had directed, and waited the next morning with the boat washed clean, her ancient and pendants out, and everything to accommodate his guests..
  • (UK, legal) One of the senior members of the Inns of Court or of Chancery.
  • (obsolete) A senior; an elder; a predecessor.
  • * Hooker
  • Junius and Andronicus were his ancients .

    References

    * * * *

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

    *

    olifant

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) An elephant.
  • (historical) An ancient horn, made of ivory.