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• auld lang syne
  auld lang syne

  noun

  old times, especially times fondly remembered.
• “Auld Lang Syne”
  “Auld Lang Syne”

  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!

auld lang syne

American  

[awld lang zahyn, sahyn] / ˈɔld læŋ ˈzaɪn, ˈsaɪn /

noun

Scot. and North England.

1. old times, especially times fondly remembered.

2. old or long friendship.

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auld lang syne British  

/ ˈɔːld læŋ ˈsəɪn, ˈzaɪn, ˈsaɪn /

noun

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

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“Auld Lang Syne” Cultural  

1. 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!

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Etymology

Origin of auld lang syne

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

auld lang syne “Auld Lang Syne”

In English, auld lang syne roughly means “times long past.”

From National Geographic ● Dec. 27, 2023

As you might guess, each box brought to mind old acquaintances — friends, colleagues and reviewers — who, like the days of auld lang syne themselves, can never be forgot.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 29, 2020

I’ve been talking, in this season of auld lang syne, with older people who have formed friendships late in life.

From New York Times ● Dec. 30, 2016

In the spirit of auld lang syne, I've composed a virtual tasting menu culled from my favorite dishes of the year.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 30, 2011

When the fiddle had stopped singing Laura called out softly, “What are days of auld lang syne, Pa?”

From "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder

And when “Happy New Year” took hold in Vietnam, my family had learned “Auld Lang Syne” in the West.

From Salon ● Dec. 31, 2025

From its beginnings as an 18th-century Scottish poem to its iconic status today, “Auld Lang Syne” captures the spirit of the holiday.

From National Geographic ● Dec. 27, 2023

The night ended, as it always does, with a toast to the president of the United States and with the audience holding hands and singing “Auld Lang Syne”:

From Washington Post ● Apr. 3, 2022

He has fun with reharmonizations, sometimes switching major keys to minor ones, as he does in “Jingle Bells” and “Auld Lang Syne”: every so often, additional instruments twinkle into the mix.

From New York Times ● Dec. 10, 2020

Actually, it wasn’t “Auld Lang Syne” they’d sung, the night the Titanic went down, but hymns.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt