oldness

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

Relating to time past

Nouns

1. oldness, age, antiquity; maturity; decline, decay.

2. archaism, obsolescence; relic [of the past], missing link; antiquities, fossils; antiquarianism; antiquary (see past). Informal, back-number, has-been. Slang, dusty line.

3. tradition, prescription, custom, neoism, immemorial usage, common law (see habit, rule).

Verbs — be old, have had or seen its day, have seen better days; become old, age, fade, obsolesce, whiten, turn gray or white; date.

Adjectives

1. old, older, oldest, eldest, ancient, antique; of long standing, time-honored, venerable.

2. prime; primitive, primeval, primordial, primordinate; medieval, olden, of old; aboriginal (see beginning); diluvian, antediluvian; prehistoric, patriarchal, preadamite; fossil, paleozoic, preglacial, antemundane.

3. archaic, classic, medieval, pre-Raphaelite; immemorial, traditional, prescriptive, customary; inveterate, rooted; antiquated, obsolete, of other times, of the old school, out-of-date, out of fashion or style; stale, outmoded, old-fashioned, old-style, dated, superannuated, behind the times; exploded; gone out or by; passé, run out; timeworn; crumbling (see deterioration); extinct; hand-me-down, secondhand, discarded, castoff; old as the hills, Methuselah, or history. Informal, old-fangled, rinky-dink, old hat. Slang, joany.

Phrases — history repeats itself.

Antonyms, see newness.