senior

See also: Senior, sénior, and sênior

English

Alternative forms

• seniour (obsolete)

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsiːnjə(ɹ)/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈsinjɚ/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Australia, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈsiːnjə(ɹ)/
• Hyphenation: se‧nior

Adjective

senior (comparative more senior, superlative most senior)

1. Older.

   senior citizen

2. Higher in rank, dignity, or office; superior.

   Synonym: elder

   senior member; senior counsel

3. (US) Of or pertaining to a student's final academic year at a high school (twelfth grade) or university.
4. (sports, US, Canada) Of or pertaining to a league or competition limited to players above a certain age or level of experience.

   senior hockey

5. (card games) Synonym of elder.
   • 1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC:

     It is unusual for the senior hand to leave even one of the five cards to which he is entitled. It indicated an unusually strong hand.

Synonyms

• (older): geriatric, long in the tooth, on in years; see also Thesaurus:elderly
• (sports): masters, veteran

Antonyms

• junior

Related terms

• senile
• senate
• sir

Translations

older

• Armenian: ավագ (hy) (avag)
• Belarusian: ста́ршы (stáršy), старэ́йшы (staréjšy)
• Bulgarian: ста́рши (bg) (stárši)
• Czech: starší (cs)
• Estonian: vanem (et)
• Finnish: vanhempi (fi)
• French: aîné (fr) m
• Georgian: უფროსი (uprosi)
• German: älter (de)
• Greek: μεγαλύτερος (el) (megalýteros) (older), ηλικιωμένος (el) (ilikioménos, literally “aged, elderly”) (polite)
• Hindi: वरिष्ठ (hi) (variṣṭh)
• Italian: anziano (it) m, anziana (it) f
• Japanese: 年上の (ja) (としうえの, toshiue no)
• Kannada: ಹಿರಿಯ (kn) (hiriya)
• Korean: 더 늙은 (deo neulgeun), 늙은 (ko) (neulgeun)
• Latin: senior (la)
• Māori: pāhake
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: مِهْتَر (mehtar)

• Polish: starszy (pl)
• Portuguese: sénior (pt)
• Russian: ста́рший (ru) (stáršij)
• Slovak: starší
• Spanish: anciano (es), sénior (es), senior
• Swedish: senior (sv)
• Turkish: yaşça büyük sg
• Ukrainian: ста́рший (stáršyj), старі́ший (staríšyj)

higher in rank

• Bulgarian: ста́рши (bg) (stárši)
• Finnish: vanhempi (fi)
• Greek: ανώτερος (el) (anóteros), προϊστάμενος (el) (proïstámenos)
• Hindi: वरिष्ठ (hi) (variṣṭh)
• Marathi: वरिष्ठ (mr) (variṣṭha)
• Portuguese: sénior (pt)
• Russian: ста́рший (ru) (stáršij)
• Spanish: alto cargo m, experimentado (es), sénior (es), senior
• Turkish: kıdemli (tr) sg

Noun

senior (plural seniors)

1. (now chiefly US) An old person.

   Synonyms: senior citizen; see also Thesaurus:old person

   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, “‘Question!’”, in The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC, page 77:

     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.

2. Someone older than someone else (with possessive). [from 15th c.]

   He was four years her senior.

3. Someone seen as deserving respect or reverence because of their age. [from 14th c.]
4. (obsolete, biblical) An elder or presbyter in the early Church. [14th–16th c.]
   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts :[8], folio clviij, recto:

     Then Peter full of the holy gooſt ſayd vnto them. Ye ruelars of the people / and ſeniours of iſrahel […].

5. Somebody who is higher in rank, dignity, or office.

   Synonym: elder

6. (US, Philippines) A final-year student at a high school or university; a finalist. [from 17th c.]

Antonyms

• junior

Translations

an old person — see senior citizen

someone older than someone else

• Armenian: ավագ (hy) (avag)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 前輩 / 前辈 (zh) (qiánbèi), 先輩 / 先辈 (zh) (xiānbèi)

• Dutch: senior (nl) m or f, ouderejaars (nl) m or f (university)
• Finnish: vanhempi (fi)
• French: supérieur (fr) m
• Georgian: უფროსი (uprosi)
• Hindi: वरिष्ठ (hi) (variṣṭh)
• Japanese: 先輩 (ja) (せんぱい, senpai), 年上 (ja) (としうえ, toshiue)
• Korean: 선배(先輩) (ko) (seonbae)
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: starszy (pl) m
• Portuguese: sénior m (Portugal), sênior (pt) m (Brazil)
• Russian: ста́рший (ru) m (stáršij), (school) старшекла́ссник (ru) m (staršeklássnik), (university, college) старшеку́рсник (ru) m (staršekúrsnik)
• Spanish: señor (es), sénior (es) m or f, senior m or f
• Tagalog: kuya (tl) m, ate (tl) f, higtaunan (academic)
• Thai: รุ่นพี่ (th) (rûn-pîi)
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: tiền bối (vi) (前輩), đàn anh

someone seen as deserving respect or reverence because of their age

• French: ancien (fr) m
• Spanish: anciano (es) m

Derived 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

Further reading

• “senior”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “senior”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Ireson, Nerios, Serino, irones, nosier, rosein, seroin

Dutch

Etymology

From Latin senior. Doublet of señor, sinjeur, sinjo, and sinjoor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈseː.ni.ɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: se‧ni‧or

Noun

senior m (plural senioren or seniors, diminutive senioortje n)

1. elderly person, senior citizen

   Voor senioren kan een e-bike zowel handig als gevaarlijk zijn. ― An e-bike can be both useful and dangerous to senior citizens.

2. senior (higher-ranked person, for example in job titles)

   Bij sommige bedrijven word je al na een jaar of vijf als senior gezien. ― At some companies you are regarded as a senior [employee] after as few as five years.

Usage notes

• The plural in -en is generally used for the sense "senior citizen", whereas the plural in -s is used for the sense "higher-ranked person".

Coordinate terms

• junior
• medior

Descendants

• → Indonesian: senior

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin senior. Doublet of sire, seigneur, and sieur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se.njɔʁ/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Noun

senior m (plural seniors)

1. (sports) senior (older player)
2. elderly person

Further reading

• “senior”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch senior, from Latin senior (“older”), comparative form of senex (“old”). Doublet of señor, senyur, and sinyo.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /seˈniɔr/ [seˈni.ɔr]
• Syllabification: se‧nior

Adjective

senior

1. senior (older)
2. senior, superior (higher in rank, dignity, or office)

   Synonym: kanan (Malaysian Malay)

Noun

senior (plural senior-senior or para senior)

1. senior
2. upperclassman

   Synonyms: abang liting, kakak kelas, kakak liting, kakak tingkat

Derived terms

• kesenioran (“seniorness, seniority”)

• senior inspektur polisi
• senior superintenden

Related terms

• senioritas

Further reading

• “senior”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Interlingua

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin senior.

Adjective

senior (comparative plus senior, superlative le plus senior)

1. older

Noun

senior (plural seniors)

1. lord

Latin

Etymology

Comparative of senex. Compare Old Irish siniu, Vedic Sanskrit सन्यस् (sányas).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈsɛ.ni.ɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈsɛː.ni.or]

Adjective

senior (comparative, neuter senius); third declension

1. comparative degree of senex
   1. older, elder; rather old

      Antonym: iūnior

Declension

Third-declension comparative adjective.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	senior	senius		seniōrēs	seniōra
genitive	seniōris			seniōrum
dative	seniōrī			seniōribus
accusative	seniōrem	senius		seniōrēs seniōrīs	seniōra
ablative	seniōre seniōrī			seniōribus
vocative	senior	senius		seniōrēs	seniōra

Noun

senior m (genitive seniōris); third declension

1. (Medieval Latin) a lord, sir

   Coordinate term: seniorissa

2. (Medieval Latin) an abbot
3. (Medieval Latin) a husband
4. old person, old man, older person, older man

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	senior	seniōrēs
genitive	seniōris	seniōrum
dative	seniōrī	seniōribus
accusative	seniōrem	seniōrēs
ablative	seniōre	seniōribus
vocative	senior	seniōrēs

Related terms

• senātus
• senex

Descendants

• Aragonese: sinyor
• Catalan: senyor
• Dalmatian: signaur
• Emilian: sgnåur, Sgnåur, sgnåuri
• Friulian: signôr, siôr
• Italian: signore
• Old French: seignor
  • Middle French: seigneur
    • French: seigneur
    • → English: seigneur
• Old French: sire, sieur
  • French: sire, sieur
  • → English: sire, sir, saar (India), ser (obsolete or archaic, fanciful)
    • → Bengali: স্যার (sêr)
    • → Hindi: सर (sar)
    • → Cantonese: sir, 阿Sir
    • → Malayalam: സാർ (sāṟ)
    • → Tamil: சார் (cār)
  • → Italian: sere, sire
  • ⇒ French: monsieur (see there for further descendants)
• Old Galician-Portuguese: senhor
  • Galician: señor, señora
  • Portuguese: senhor, senhora (see there for further descendants)
• Old Lombard: segnior
  • Lombard: segnor
• Old Occitan: senhor, segnor
  • Occitan: sénher, senhor, signour
• Old Spanish: sennor
  • Ladino: sinyor
  • Spanish: señor
• Piedmontese: sgnor
• Romagnol: signôr, sgnôr, Signôr
• Romansh: signur
• Sardinian: sannori, segnore, segnori, sennore
• Sicilian: signuri
• Venetan: sior
• Borrowings:
  • → Dutch: senior
    • → Indonesian: senior
  • → English: senior
  • → French: senior
  • → Polish: senior
  • → Portuguese: sénior, sênior (Brazilian Portuguese spelling)
  • → Romanian: senior
  • → Spanish: senior

References

• “senior”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “senior”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "senior", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “senior”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• senior in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Anagrams

• īnserō
• oriēns

Polish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *sénosder.

Proto-Italic *senos

Proto-Italic *seneks

Latin senex

Latin seniorlbor.

Polish senior

Learned borrowing from Latin senior.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛ.ɲɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛɲɔr
• Syllabification: se‧nior

Noun

senior m pers (female equivalent seniorka)

1. doyen, senior (oldest member of the family by age)

   Synonym: nestor

   Antonym: junior

2. doyen, elder, senior (eldest or most experienced member of a group)

   Synonyms: nestor, patriarcha

3. senior (athlete of adult age according to the regulations of a given sport discipline)

   Antonym: junior

   Hypernym: sportowiec

Noun

senior m pers

1. Sr. (title used after a father's name when his son is given the same name)

   Antonym: junior

2. (feudalism, historical) feudal lord exercising power and guardianship over his subordinate vassal

   Antonym: wasal

   Hypernyms: feudał, zwierzchnik

3. (historical) during the period of the division of Poland into districts, the oldest of the Piasts who exercised supreme power and to whom the other princes ruling the various districts were subordinate

   Hypernym: zwierzchnik

4. (Protestantism) senior (senior Protestant clergyman)

   Hypernym: duchowny

Declension

Declension of senior

	singular	plural
nominative	senior	seniorzy/seniory (deprecative)
genitive	seniora	seniorów
dative	seniorowi	seniorom
accusative	seniora	seniorów
instrumental	seniorem	seniorami
locative	seniorze	seniorach
vocative	seniorze	seniorzy

Derived terms

adjectives

• senioracki
• senioralny

nouns

• seniorstwo

Related terms

nouns

• senioralne
• seniorat
• senioria

Further reading

• “senior”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “senior”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[3] (in Polish)
• senior in PWN's encyclopedia

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *sénosder.

Proto-Italic *senos

Proto-Italic *seneks

Latin senex

Latin seniorlbor.

French seniorbor.

Romanian senior

Borrowed from French senior, a learned borrowing from Latin senior.

Adjective

senior m or n (feminine singular senioră, masculine plural seniori, feminine/neuter plural seniore)

1. senior

Declension

Declension of senior

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	senior		senioră	seniori	seniore
	definite	seniorul		seniora	seniorii	seniorele
genitive- dative	indefinite	senior		seniore	seniori	seniore
	definite	seniorului		seniorei	seniorilor	seniorelor

Spanish

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin senior. Doublet of señor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seˈnjoɾ/ [seˈnjoɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: se‧nior

Noun

senior m (plural seniores)

1. (obsolete) Courtesy vocative used before someone's name, surname or title

   Synonym: señor

Etymology 2

Unadapted borrowing from English senior.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsinjoɾ/ [ˈsi.njoɾ]
• Rhymes: -injoɾ

Adjective

senior m or f (masculine and feminine plural seniors)

1. alternative form of sénior

   Antonym: junior

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

• Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “senior”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin senior.

Adjective

senior (comparative mer senior, superlative mest senior)

1. senior

Declension

Inflection of senior

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	senior	mer senior	mest senior
neuter singular	seniort	mer seniort	mest seniort
plural	seniora	mer seniora	mest seniora
masculine plural2	seniore	mer seniora	mest seniora
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	seniore	mer seniore	mest seniore
all	seniora	mer seniora	mest seniora

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Noun

senior c

1. (sports) senior (athlete competing in ordinary category for adults)

   Antonyms: junior, oldboy

2. elderly person, senior citizen

Declension

Declension of senior

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	senior	seniors
	definite	senioren	seniorens
plural	indefinite	seniorer	seniorers
	definite	seniorerna	seniorernas

Derived terms

• damsenior
• herrsenior
• seniorat
• seniorboende
• seniorbostad
• seniorklass
• seniorkonsult
• seniorlag
• seniorlandskamp
• seniorlandslag
• seniorlån
• seniormatch
• seniormästare
• seniormästerskap
• seniorskollegium
• seniorspelare
• seniortävling

Further reading

• “senior”, in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker [Dictionaries of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)