*aldijaną

This word appears to continue two formally identical but semantically distinct Weak class 1 formations. In the sense ‘to make old’, it is a deadjectival factitive from *aldaz + *-(i)janą, literally ‘to make old’; such deadjectival factitives belong to an inherited Germanic class of j-presents, ultimately continuing Proto-Indo-European *-yé/ó- formations (Fulk 2018: 294–96; Lloyd et al. 1998: s.v. eltern; Ringe 2017: 200–201). The base *aldaz continues Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-tó-s, from *h₂el-, hence originally approximately ‘grown, fully grown’ (Kroonen 2013: 20; Ringe 2017: 317). The distinct sense ‘to delay, prolong’ is securely reflected in West Germanic. Compare Old English ieldan and Old High German elten; EWA proposes that this sense was associated instead with the feminine noun represented by Old High German eltî, eltîn, so that the semantic development was approximately ‘to cause duration, prolong’ → ‘to delay’ (Lloyd et al. 1998: s.v. elten; Ringe & Taylor 2014: 231).