timeworn

UK/ˈtaɪm.wɔɹn/US/ˈtaɪm.wɔɹn/

adjectiveC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechToo rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Timeworn means showing the marks of great age. A timeworn step.

It suggests something faded or eroded by the passing of many years. A timeworn phrase is one worn smooth by use rather than by weather.

Definitions of timeworn

1adjectivetimewornShowing the marks of great age, faded or eroded by the passing of many years.C2
“The timeworn inscription could only be read at an angle.”

timeworn is a quality.

Where it comes from

Time plus worn; the compound has been in English since the seventeenth century.

From time + worn.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

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