Aul
Old - but used in a particular Ulster Scots way that often softens or marks affection rather than literal age. 'An aul fella' = an old guy, or just a guy. 'An aul woman' = an old woman, or sometimes just an annoying one. Tone carries the actual age.
Etymology
From Scots 'auld' (= old), the Ulster Scots pronunciation drops the 'd' to 'aul'. The same word that gives 'auld lang syne' in the Robert Burns song. Standard English 'old' is the cognate; Scots and Ulster Scots kept the 'auld'/'aul' form with the slightly different register that comes from a non-standard spelling.
In a sentence
"The aul one upstairs has the radio on at full blast again."
Historical notes
Aul is heard in Ulster Scots almost as a discourse marker as much as an adjective: 'an aul thing', 'an aul yarn', 'an aul wagon' often mean nothing about the age of the noun and everything about the speaker's attitude. The construction operates like a softener (parallel to 'wee') or sometimes a small affectionate insult. A man's wife calling him 'the aul fella' is fond; a stranger calling him the same thing is being rude. Context, as always, carries the meaning.
Alternate spellings
auld · oul
Sources
- Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DSL), entry AULD adj. · dictionary