the Old One
1
9.9
- noun
- Literature
:
entidad primordial
- Open the gates, let the Old Ones back in, and they will make you a god.
Examples
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It's been a lifelong struggle, but one human lifetime shrinks to invisibility - compared to the span of The Old Ones.
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Have you heard of the "Old Ones," "The Outsiders" of Yog-Sothoth, Cthulhu?
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Who killed the old one?
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"But the Old One shakes her head.
Fiction book (2001) -
Indeed, the House Republican majority remains almost completely unchanged, except that the new caucus is more conservative than the old one.
Blog text (8) -
"The Old One, in the maddening way she has, both agrees and disagrees."
Fiction book (2001) -
The old one grabbed a glowing skull from the fence, put it on a stick, and handed it to the girl.
Fiction book (1993) -
He knows where The Old Ones have trod Earth's fields and that they will tread once more.
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In the gym/lunchroom, the sound travels up into the ceiling and seems to disappear, so the lunchroom is much quieter than the old one.
Academic text (2013) -
The old legends warned us that if the Old One is awakened, chaos would follow.
Synonyms
321
4.2
A main evil spirit in some religions who tempts people and rules Hell
3
9.9
A Greek god of darkness who lives in the underworld
1
9.9
A name for the Devil who tempts people and rules Hell
How Threatening
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituent words 'old' and 'one' allow a learner to infer a general meaning of an ancient or aged entity, so some basic understanding (an old being) is immediately derivable. However, the specialized fantasy/horror sense — a primordial, cosmic, often malevolent antagonist — is a culturally specific trope and not fully predictable from the parts, making the expression only partially transparent.
Etymology
The Old One may come from tales of a very ancient creature sleeping deep under the earth or sea for ages. When it wakes, it brings danger and harm, so the name now means a very old, powerful, often dangerous being.