Seniles

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. Characterized by a decline in mental or physical capacities commonly associated with aging; relating to conditions or behaviors exhibited by an elderly person; exhibiting the traits or symptoms typically linked to senescence or advanced years
2. Pertaining to deteriorative changes or deficits commonly found in those of advanced age; describing the cognitive or functional impairment that may accompany growing old; indicative of characteristics or states typical of elderly individuals
3. Associated with the aging process and the resultant loss of functioning; defining mental or physical conditions that emerge as a person grows older; marking the presence of age-related decline in abilities or health

Etymology: "Seniles" is simply the plural of "senile," so the word's story is really the story of "senile." English took that adjective in the 1660s from French "sénile," which itself came from the Latin "senīlis," meaning "of or pertaining to old age." The Latin base is "senex," "old man," a word that carries the same sense of age that runs through the whole family. The Latin root reaches back further still, to a Proto-Indo-European form meaning "old," which is why relatives of "senile" turn up across a wide range of languages. In English the word stayed close to its literal sense of simply belonging to old age for a long time, and only later narrowed to describe the mental decline that now comes to mind.

Synonyms: elderly, aged, old people, seniors, retirees

Antonyms: youths, youngsters, juveniles, children, adolescents