Eltern

Concepts

parents

parent

mother

👩‍🍼

parental

another’s parent

father

👨‍👦

’rents

founder

guardian

both parents

Synonyms

Vorfahren

Elternteil

Erziehungsberechtigte

Mutter

👩‍🍼

Vater und Mutter

Vater

👨‍👦

ahnen

beide Elternteile

die Alten

Elter

elterlich

Vormund

Erziehungsberechtigter

Translations

padres

genitori

parents

ouders

pais

pares

parent

père et mère

ouderpaar

ebeveyn

genitore

padre y madre

parentes

mère

👩‍🍼

Dialects

Appenzell Innerrhoden

eltere

Basel-Landschaft

alte

Basel-Landschaft

eltere

Zürich

eltere

Data provided by: Deutsch-Schweizerdeutsches Wörterbuch

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɛltərn/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle High German: eltern

Inherited from Old High German: eltirōn

Cognate with Dutch: ouders

Cognate with English: elders

In summary

From Middle High German eltern, from Old High German eltirōn, from Proto-Germanic *alþizô. Compare Dutch ouders, English elders.
The form is equivalent to a nominalised comparative of alt (“old”). The according spelling Ältern was common in Early Modern German, but later went out of fashion. Several sources claim that this was due to incomprehension of the etymology, but that seems implausible given its obviousness. An alternative explanation would be the desire to distinguish between Eltern (“parents”) and die Älteren (“older ones, elders”), which latter was commonly spelt Ältern.

Sentences

Seine Eltern ließen sich als er sechs Jahre alt war scheiden .

His parents divorced when he was six years old.