Adjacent Words

Senior definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SENIOR, a. see'nyor. [L. senior, comp. of senex, old.] Elder or older; but as an adjective, it usually signifies older in office; as the senior pastor of a church, where there are colleagues; a senior counselor. In such use, senior has no reference to age, for a senior counselor may be, and ofted is the younger man.
SENIOR, n. see'nyor.
1. A person who is older than another; one more advanced in life.
2. One that is older in office, or one whose first entrance upon an office was anterior to that of another. Thus a senator or counselor of sixty years of age, often has a senior who is not fifty years of age.
3. An aged person; one of the oldest inhabitants.
A senior of the place replies. Dryden.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: older; higher in rank; longer in length of tenure or service; "senior officer" [ant: junior]
2: used of the fourth and final year in United States high school or college; "the senior prom" [syn: senior, fourth-year]
3: advanced in years; (`aged' is pronounced as two syllables); "aged members of the society"; "elderly residents could remember the construction of the first skyscraper"; "senior citizen" [syn: aged, elderly, older, senior] n
1: an undergraduate student during the year preceding graduation
2: a person who is older than you are [syn: elder, senior]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Latin, from senior, adjective Date: 14th century 1. a person older than another <five years my senior> 2. a. a person with higher standing or rank b. a senior fellow of a college at an English university c. a student in the year preceding graduation from a school of secondary or higher level 3. capitalized a member of a program of the Girl Scouts for girls in the 9th through 12th grades in school 4. senior citizen II. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Latin, older, elder, comparative of sen-, senex old; akin to Gothic sineigs old, Greek henos Date: 14th century 1. of prior birth, establishment, or enrollment — often used to distinguish a father with the same given name as his son 2. higher ranking ; superior <senior officers> 3. of, relating to, or intended for seniors <a senior center> 4. having a claim on corporate assets and income prior to other securities

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 (often foll. by to) more or most advanced in age or standing. 2 of high or highest position. 3 (placed after a person's name) senior to another of the same name. 4 (of a school) having pupils in an older age-range (esp. over 11). 5 US of the final year at a university, high school, etc. --n. 1 a person of advanced age or comparatively long service etc. 2 one's elder, or one's superior in length of service, membership, etc. (is my senior). 3 a senior student. Phrases and idioms: senior citizen an elderly person, esp. an old-age pensioner. senior college US a college in which the last two years' work for a bachelor's degree is done. senior common (or combination) room Brit. a room for use by senior members of a college. senior nursing officer the person in charge of nursing services in a hospital. senior officer an officer to whom a junior is responsible. senior partner the head of a firm. senior service Brit. the Royal Navy as opposed to the Army. senior tutor Brit. a college tutor in charge of the teaching arrangements. Derivatives: seniority n. Etymology: ME f. L, = older, older man, compar. of senex senis old man, old

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Senior Sen"ior, a. [L. senior, compar. of senex, gen. senis, old. See Sir.] 1. More advanced than another in age; prior in age; elder; hence, more advanced in dignity, rank, or office; superior; as, senior member; senior counsel. 2. Belonging to the final year of the regular course in American colleges, or in professional schools.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Senior Sen"ior, n. 1. A person who is older than another; one more advanced in life. 2. One older in office, or whose entrance upon office was anterior to that of another; one prior in grade. 3. An aged person; an older. --Dryden. Each village senior paused to scan, And speak the lovely caravan. --Emerson. 4. One in the fourth or final year of his collegiate course at an American college; -- originally called senior sophister; also, one in the last year of the course at a professional schools or at a seminary.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(seniors) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. The senior people in an organization or profession have the highest and most important jobs. ...senior officials in the Israeli government. ...the company's senior management... Television and radio needed many more women in senior jobs. ? junior ADJ: ADJ n 2. If someone is senior to you in an organization or profession, they have a higher and more important job than you or they are considered to be superior to you because they have worked there for longer and have more experience. The position had to be filled by an officer senior to Haig... ? junior ADJ: usu v-link ADJ to n • Your seniors are the people who are senior to you. He was described by his seniors as a model officer. ? junior N-PLURAL: poss N 3. Senior is used when indicating how much older one person is than another. For example, if someone is ten years your senior, they are ten years older than you. She became involved with a married man many years her senior. ? junior N-SING: poss N 4. Seniors are students in a high school, university, or college who are the oldest and who have reached an advanced level in their studies. (AM) N-COUNT 5. If you take part in a sport at senior level, you take part in competitions with adults and people who have reached a high degree of achievement in that sport. This will be his fifth international championship and his third at senior level. ADJ: ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Older, elder. 2. Higher, more advanced. II. n. Elder.

Moby Thesaurus

A per se, absolute, ace, ancient, antecedent, anterior, anticipatory, ascendant, authoritarian, authoritative, authorized, autocratic, better, boss, brass hat, cadet, champion, chief, ci-devant, clothed with authority, commander, commanding, competent, consequential, considerable, controlling, dean, dominant, doyen, doyenne, duly constituted, earlier, early, elder, eldest, eminent, empowered, ex officio, father, first, first-born, firstling, fore, foregoing, former, freshman, fugleman, genius, golden-ager, governing, great, head, hegemonic, hegemonistic, high priest, higher-up, imperative, important, important person, influential, junior, kingfish, kingpin, laureate, leader, leading, major, master, midshipman, mighty, momentous, monocratic, nonpareil, official, old-timer, older, oldest, paragon, personage, plebe, potent, powerful, preceding, precurrent, preeminent, preexistent, prestigious, previous, prime, primogenitary, principal, prior, prodigy, prominent, puissant, ranking, ruler, ruling, senior citizen, sire, soph, sophomore, star, substantial, superior, superman, superstar, supreme, the greatest, the most, top dog, totalitarian, undergrad, undergraduate, upperclassman, virtuoso, weighty