Elder

1. comparative degree of old: older, greaterthan another in age or seniority.

Usage notes

• The normal comparative of old is older. The irregular form elder is sometimes used with family members, but is otherwise rare (except in fixed expressions such as elder statesman). Elder is generally limited to attributive position (my elder brother) and does not occur in predicative position (*my brother is elder). This also implies that eldercannot be followed by than