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From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also:
U+8001, 老
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-8001
耀
[U+8000]
CJK Unified Ideographs
[U+8002]
U+2F7C, ⽼
KANGXI RADICAL OLD

[U+2F7B]
Kangxi Radicals
[U+2F7D]
U+F934, 老
CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-F934

[U+F933]
CJK Compatibility Ideographs
[U+F935]

Translingual

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Stroke order
6 strokes
Stroke order

Han character

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(Kangxi radical 125, +0, 6 strokes, cangjie input 十大心 (JKP), four-corner 44711, composition )

  1. Kangxi radical #125, .

Derived characters

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References

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  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 960, character 25
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 28842
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1407, character 8
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2778, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+8001

Chinese

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trad.
simp. #
alternative forms 𠄰
𦒳
𠈣

Glyph origin

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Ideogrammic compound (會意会意) : (man) + (hair) + (cane) – a man with long hair (an old man), leaning on a cane. Compare top component to (OC *qʰruːs).

Cognate to (OC *kʰluːʔ); the most commonly cited example of 轉注 (“reciprocal meaning”).

Etymology

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Unknown. Compare Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-raw (withered, residue, corpse), *rwat (stiff, tough), whence Burmese ရော် (rau, wither, become overripe; age), ရွတ် (rwat, old, stiff, tough). See also (), ().

An old Sino-Vietnamese borrowing is rệu (overripe, pulpy).

Pronunciation

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Note:
  • sē, la̿u, lo̤̿ - vernacular;
  • lǎu - literary.
Note:
  • lâu - vernacular;
  • lō̤ - literary.
Note:
  • lao5 - vernacular;
  • lor3 - literary.
Note:
  • lāu/lǎu - vernacular;
  • láu - vernacular (sometimes considered literary);
  • làu - vernacular (limited, e.g. 老闆);
  • lǎ - vernacular (limited, e.g. 老鶚);
  • ló/ló͘/nó͘ - literary.
Note:
  • lao6 - vernacular;
  • lao2 - literary.

Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1
Initial () (37)
Final () (89)
Tone (調) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Open
Division () I
Fanqie
Baxter lawX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/lɑuX/
Pan
Wuyun
/lɑuX/
Shao
Rongfen
/lɑuX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/lawX/
Li
Rong
/lɑuX/
Wang
Li
/lɑuX/
Bernhard
Karlgren
/lɑuX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
lǎo
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
lou5
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
lǎo
Middle
Chinese
‹ lawX ›
Old
Chinese
/*C.rˁuʔ/
English old

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character
Reading # 1/1
No. 7666
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
1
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*ruːʔ/

Definitions

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  1. old; aged; elderly
    Antonyms: ,
      ―  lǎoshù  ―  old tree
    婦人妇人  ―  lǎo fùrén  ―  old woman
    記性 [MSC, trad.]
    记性 [MSC, simp.]
    Rén lǎo le jìxìng jiù chā le. [Pinyin]
    One's memory worsens when age increases.
  2. old (as opposed to new); of long standing
    Antonym: (xīn)
      ―  lǎo  ―  old song
    朋友  ―  lǎopéngyǒu  ―  old friend
  3. outdated; old-fashioned
  4. original; former
    地方  ―  lǎo dìfāng  ―  usual place
    本行  ―  lǎo běnháng  ―  original profession
  5. the elderly; one's elders
      ―  jìnglǎo  ―  to respect the elderly
  6. Used after the surname of an old person to address a venerable old person
      ―  Wáng lǎo  ―  revered old Wang
  7. (figurative) experienced
    Antonym: (nèn)
      ―  lǎoshǒu  ―  an old hand
      ―  lǎobīng  ―  veteran
  8. (literary) to respect (the elderly, one's elders)
  9. (of cooked food) overcooked; tough; stringy; hard
    牛排 [MSC, trad.]
    牛排 [MSC, simp.]
    Niúpái tài lǎo le, wǒ yǎo bù dòng tā. [Pinyin]
    The steak was so tough I couldn't eat it.
    雞蛋掌握火候 [MSC, trad.]
    鸡蛋掌握火候 [MSC, simp.]
    Zhè jīdàn zhǔ lǎo le, nǐ méi zhǎngwò hǎo huǒhòu. [Pinyin]
    This egg is hard; you didn't time it properly.
  10. (of food or potable liquids) stale; not fresh
  11. always; all the time
    這樣这样  ―  Nǐ bié lǎo zhèyàng!  ―  Stop being always like this!
  12. (chiefly dialectal) very; quite
      ―  lǎozǎo  ―  very early
      ―  Tā rén lǎo hǎo le.  ―  He is such a nice person! [colloquial, somewhat regional]
    看到真個開心 [Shanghainese, trad.]
    看到真个开心 [Shanghainese, simp.]
    5khoe-tau 6non 1tsen-gheq 6lau 1khe-shin-gheq [Wugniu]
    I am really happy to see you.
  13. (euphemistic, of an elderly person) to die; to pass away (usually with (le) or (diào))
  14. (endearing, respectful) Used before surnames to refer to heads or elder members of families.
    (xiǎo) (for younger people)
    馬上趕緊收拾 [MSC, trad.]
    马上赶紧收拾 [MSC, simp.]
    Lǎo Zhāng mǎshàng lái le, wǒ děi gǎnjǐn shōushí yī xià wū zǐ. [Pinyin]
    Old Zhang is going to be here any minute. I need to hurry up and straighten the room up a bit.
  15. (usually respectful and endearing) Used by analogy in several other relationship terms.
      ―  lǎoshī  ―  teacher
      ―  lǎo  ―  wifey
      ―  lǎogōng  ―  hubby
  16. (obsolete, originally honorific) Prefix for animals or people considered senior, fierce, and often awe-inspiring.
      ―  lǎoyīng  ―  eagle
      ―  lǎo  ―  tiger
      ―  lǎoshǔ  ―  mouse, rat; (obsolete) bat
      ―  lǎoláng  ―  (rare) elder and experienced wolf
      ―  lǎomāo  ―  (rare) elder (potentially annoying) cat
    狐狸  ―  lǎohúlí  ―  (surviving usage) elder, cunning and experienced fox
    傢夥家伙  ―  lǎojiāhuǒ  ―  (please add an English translation of this usage example)
    東西东西  ―  lǎodōngxī  ―  (please add an English translation of this usage example)
    雜碎杂碎  ―  lǎozásuì  ―  (please add an English translation of this usage example)
  17. (Cantonese, colloquial) Prefix for nouns with negative impressions or connotations.
    [Hong Kong Cantonese]  ―  lou5 koeng4-2 [Jyutping]  ―  rape
    [Cantonese]  ―  lou5 zok3 [Jyutping]  ―  made-up
    [Cantonese]  ―  faat3 lou5 pei4-2 [Jyutping]  ―  to get angry
    [Hong Kong Cantonese]  ―  lou5 gaai2 [Jyutping]  ―  People's Liberation Army
  18. (Cantonese, colloquial) Prefix for nouns to express familiarity.
    [Hong Kong Cantonese]  ―  lou5 zim1 [Jyutping]  ―  Tsim Sha Tsui
    [Hong Kong Cantonese]  ―  lou5 tung4-2 [Jyutping]  ―  Causeway Bay
  19. (colloquial) Used before nouns, especially names of ethnicities, places and countries, to form nouns.
      ―  lǎowài  ―  foreigner; (pejorative) layman, one who lacks knowledge of a subject
      ―  lǎoměi  ―  Yank
      ―  lǎobiǎo  ―  a friend (direct speech, may be intimate or offensive depending on provinces)
    毛子  ―  lǎomáozi  ―  (pejorative) Russian person
    蒙古  ―  lǎoménggǔ  ―  (pejorative) Mongols
    北京  ―  lǎoběijīng  ―  indigenous Beijing person
    山東山东  ―  lǎoshāndōng  ―  indigenous Shandong person
    西兒西儿  ―  lǎoxīr  ―  (affectionate) Shanxi person
    回回  ―  lǎohuíhuí  ―  Hui person (affectionate in some cases, pejorative in other cases, never neutral, depends on the region, speaker, listener, situation and speaking mood)
  20. Short for 老子 (Lǎozǐ, “Laozi; Lao Tzu”).
  21. (Mainland China, Hong Kong) Short for 老撾老挝 (Lǎowō, “Laos”).

Synonyms

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  • (old):
  • (very):
  • (to die):

Antonyms

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  • (antonym(s) of old): (nèn), (yòu)

Compounds

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Descendants

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Sino-Xenic ():
  • Korean: /(老) (ro/no)
  • Vietnamese: lão ()

References

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Japanese

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Kanji

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(Fourth grade kyōiku kanji)

  1. old age, an elderly person, the aged, the elderly

Readings

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Compounds

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Korean

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Etymology

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From Middle Chinese (MC lawX).

Historical Readings
Dongguk Jeongun Reading
Dongguk Jeongun, 1448 로ᇢ〯 (Yale: lwǒw)
Middle Korean
Text Eumhun
Gloss (hun) Reading
Hunmong Jahoe, 1527[2] 늘글〮 (Yale: nùlkúl) 로〯 (Yale: lwŏ)

Pronunciation

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  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [ɾo̞(ː)] ~ [no̞(ː)]
  • Phonetic hangul: [(ː)/(ː)]
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Hanja

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(eumhun 늙을 (neulgeul ro), word-initial (South Korea) 늙을 (neulgeul no))

  1. hanja form? of / (old) [affix; suffix]

Compounds

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Vietnamese

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Han character

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: Hán Việt readings: lão[1][2][3]
: Nôm readings: lảo[1][3][4], lảu[1][3][4], lão[1][2], lẽo[1][3], láu[3][4], rảu[3][4], láo[1], lạo[1], não[1], rau[1], sáu[1], lểu[2], lếu[3], lẩu[3]

  1. chữ Hán form of lão (old; aged).

Compounds

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References

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