alder[ˈɔː.ldə]EtymologyInherited from Middle English aldre, alder, aller, from Old English alor, from Proto-West Germanic *aluʀu, from Proto-Germanic *aluz, *alusō, *alizō, *alisō.nameA topographic surname from Middle English for someone who lived by alder trees.nounAny of several trees or shrubs of the genus Alnus, belonging to the birch family.“I’ve known ere now an interfering branch / Of alder catch my lifted axe behind me. / But that was in the woods, to hold my hand / From striking at another alder’s roots, / And that was, as I say, an alder branch.”An alderman or alderwoman.“Almost immediately, city alders contacted the campaign to negotiate an ordinance.”