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supercentenarian (soo.pur.sen.tuh.NAYR.ee.un) n. A person who is at least 110 years old. Also: super-centenarian.

Example Citations:
According to United Nations population projections, close to 1 in 20 American boomers are expected to live to 100, thanks to breakthroughs in treatments for heart disease and cancer, lives relatively free of hard labor and longstanding memberships at the gym. Those centenarians may not even be the most senior members of society, either — the National Institute on Aging predicts that the boomers will be playing bridge with a growing number of people 110 and older, or supercentenarians.
—Susan Dominus, "Life In The Age Of Old, Old Age," The New York Times, February 22, 2004

Today, [Opal] Neerman and her family will celebrate her 110th birthday, about as close to immortality as the human species will allow. There are only 45 people living worldwide who are verified to be as old as Neerman.

"I don't feel 110," said Neerman, a former librarian who lives in Apopka. "More like 99."

It's an elite club she is joining, the "supercentenarians."
—Jeff Kunerth, "'I don't feel 110 — more like 99,' says birthday girl." Orlando Sentinel, December 18, 2003

Earliest Citation:
It has often been stated that the oldest known person in Canada was Pierre Joubert of Quebec, who died at the age of 113 years in 1814. There is evidence, however, of an even older person; according to the Halifax British Colonist newspaper of Jan. 20, 1852, Daniel Weekes of Ship Harbour, N.S., was 116 years old at the time of his death on Dec. 29, 1851, having been born on Dec. 3, 1735.

If so, Weekes lived to be more than two years older than the super-centenarian Mr. Joubert.
—Charles Addington, "Longevity contest," The Globe and Mail, June 27, 1993

Related Words:
elder orphan
geezer glut
genarian
grandboomer
retrogenesis
sarcopenia
senior moment

Subject Categories:
Sociology - Aging and Death
Sociology - People

Posted on February 25, 2004
Updated on February 25, 2004


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