one of the oldest written words in the english language still in usage

[Joshua Nimocks]

Last May Allan, Metcalf sent out an email regarding WGN-TV news of
Chicago's claim that town is the oldest word in the English language.

Well, 'town' (601) does appear to tie 'priest' and 'yield' for the OED
headwords, with the oldest citations, that are still in common usage.

These three are beaten by chiule (550) and alder (600), which appear to
have fallen out of usage in the 19th and 14th centuries, respectively.

In case anyone wanted to know,
Joshua Nimocks