senior
nounEtymology From Middle English senior, from Latin senior (“older”), comparative form of senex (“old”); see senate. Doublet of seigneur, seignior, senhor, señor, senyor, signore, sir, and sire.
1
US An old person.
- Grave and reverend seniors seemed to have caught the prevailing spirit as badly as the students, and I saw white-bearded men rising and shaking their fists at the obdurate Professor.1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, “‘Question!’”, in The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC, page 77:
2
Someone older than someone else (with possessive).
- He was four years her senior.
3
Someone seen as deserving respect or reverence because of their age.
- Then Peter full of the holy gooſt ſayd vnto them. Ye ruelars of the people / and ſeniours of iſrahel[…].1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts :[8], folio clviij, recto:
5
Somebody who is higher in rank, dignity, or office.
6
Philippines, US A final-year student at a high school or university; a finalist.
- Antonyms
- junior
- Derived terms
39 terms
nonsenior, senior bond, senior captain, senior chief petty officer, senior chief warrant officer, senior college, senior colonel, Senior Counsel, senior high, senior higher, senior high school, seniorhood, senior hurling, senior infant, senioritis, seniority, seniorize, senior lecturer, seniorlike, seniorly, senior moment, seniormost, seniorness, senior note, senior patrol leader, seniorpreneur, senior researcher, senior school, seniorship, senior ship of the line captain, senior ship-of-the-line captain, senior slide, senior status, senior synonym, senior theater, senior vice president, senior warrant officer, subsenior, supersenior