Nestor
(ˈnɛstə(r))
[a. Gr. νέστωρ.]
The name of a Homeric hero famous for his age and wisdom, applied allusively to, or used as a designation of, an old man.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 169 To see..Nestor play at push-pin with the boyes. 1614 R. Tailor Hog hath lost Pearl iv. in Dodsley O. Pl. (1780) VI. 429 What, weep'st thou, aged Nestor? Take comfort, man. 1656 Blount Glossogr. s.v., We take it proverbially when we use Nestor for a man of great age. 1727 Gay Fables i. xliii, Thus spoke the Nestor of the plain. 1817 J. Bradbury Trav. Amer. 120 Some aged Nestors tottered along with the crowd. 1883 Harper's Mag. May 860/2 This Nestor of art is not forgotten by his old associates. |
| Comb. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. v. 6 These grey Locks, the Pursuiuants of death, Nestor-like aged, in an Age of Care. |
Hence
Neˈstorian a.1 rare—1.
| 1605 Timme Quersit. i. xvii. 92 It will suffice..to prolong our dayes to Nestorian yeares. |