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auld lang syne

[awld lang zahyn, sahyn]
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noun Scot. and North England.

old times, especially times fondly remembered.
old or long friendship.

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Origin of auld lang syne

literally, old long since, i.e., old long-ago (days)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

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British Dictionary definitions for auld lang syne

auld lang syne

noun

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

Word Origin for auld lang syne

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
Culture 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.