Swedish

Adjective

äldste

1. superlative attributive natural masculine form of gammal.

Noun

äldste c

1. elders (plural only), a governing body made up of seniors

   Men när det hade blivit morgon, fattade alla översteprästerna och folkets äldste det beslutet angående Jesus, att de skulle döda honom.

   When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. (Matthew 27:1)

Usage notes

• Before the municipal reform of 1862, Swedish towns had two governing bodies, magistrat (magistrate) and stadens äldste (elders of the town). These were replaced with stadsfullmäktige, now called kommunfullmäktige.