auld lang syne

[ awldlang zahyn, sahyn ]
See synonyms for auld lang syne on Thesaurus.com
nounScot. and North England.
  1. old times, especially times fondly remembered.

  2. old or long friendship.

Origin of auld lang syne

1
First recorded in 1660–80; from Scots: literally, “old long since,” i.e., “old long-ago (days)”

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use auld lang syne in a sentence

  • I'm thinking—I'll just come—and cuik till ye a wee—for auld lang syne—thretty schelln the day—an' ye'll buy the flesh o' me.

  • As the ship began to move a band on the shade-deck struck up "auld lang syne," and immediately the floodgates were unlocked.

    The Relief of Mafeking | Filson Young
  • Then auld lang syne was sung, and the men of various units played to their billets by their pipers.

  • Old affections sprang up anew between my friend and myself as we talked of auld lang syne.

  • I took a ramble outside the old city, and called on young friends; and so caught glimpses touching borders of auld lang syne.

British Dictionary definitions for auld lang syne

auld lang syne

/ (ˈɔːld læŋ ˈsəɪn, ˈsaɪn, ˈzaɪn) /


noun
  1. old times; times past, esp those remembered with affection or nostalgia

Origin of auld lang syne

1
Scottish, literally: old long since

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for “Auld Lang Syne”

“Auld Lang Syne”

[ (awld lang zeyen, seyen) ]


A traditional Scottish song, customarily sung on New Year's Eve; the title means “Time Long Past.” The words, passed down orally, were recorded by the eighteenth-century poet Robert Burns. The song begins:

Should auld [old] acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to min'?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.