If I'm 18 and my brother is 15, is he my little brother and I'm his elder brother? Or he is my smaller brother and I'm his bigger one?
Any clarifications?
Answer
When you want to be clear that the distinction is about age, the simplest and most obvious choice is, like Shaunak Sukla says:
younger brother, older brother
However, it is very common to refer to a younger sibling as little or an older one as big (usually not bigger!):
little brother, big brother
Although this refers to size, in practice it normally means the little one is the youngest. It is also used between grown-ups to indicate the (usually by then irrelevant) difference in age. It is even done jokingly, especially if the younger sibling has outgrown the older one.
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