老

See also: 耂
老 U+8001, 老
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-8001
← 耀
[U+8000]
CJK Unified Ideographs 耂 →
[U+8002]
⽼ U+2F7C, ⽼
KANGXI RADICAL OLD
← ⽻
[U+2F7B]
Kangxi Radicals ⽽ →
[U+2F7D]
老 U+F934, 老
CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-F934
← 盧
[U+F933]
CJK Compatibility Ideographs 蘆 →
[U+F935]

Translingual

Stroke order
6 strokes
Stroke order

Han character

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

  1. Kangxi radical #125, ⽼.

Derived characters

References

Chinese

trad. 老
simp. # 老
alternative forms 𠄰
𦒳
𠈣

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 老
Shang Western Zhou Spring and Autumn Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming) Libian (compiled in Qing) Kangxi Dictionary (compiled in Qing)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Bronze inscriptions Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Qin slip script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts Clerical script Ming typeface

Ideogrammic compound (會意) : 人 (“man”) + 毛 (“hair”) + 匕 (“cane”) – a man with long hair (an old man), leaning on a cane. Compare top component to 孝 (OC *qʰruːs).

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

Etymology

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 古 (gǔ), 故 (gù).

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

Pronunciation


Note:
  • sē, la̿u, lo̤̿ - vernacular;
  • lǎu - literary.
  • Min Dong
    • (Fuzhou)
      • Bàng-uâ-cê: lâu / lō̤
      • Sinological IPA (key): /l̃ɑu²⁴²/, /l̃o³³/
Note:
  • lâu - vernacular;
  • lō̤ - 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 老
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 來 (37)
Final (韻) 豪 (89)
Tone (調) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 盧晧切
Baxter lawX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/lɑuX/
Pan
Wuyun
/lɑuX/
Shao
Rongfen
/lɑuX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/lawX/
Li
Rong
/lɑuX/
Wang
Li
/lɑuX/
Bernard
Karlgren
/lɑuX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
lǎo
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
lou5
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 老
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 老
Reading # 1/1
No. 7666
Phonetic
component
老
Rime
group
幽
Rime
subdivision
1
Corresponding
MC rime
老
Old
Chinese
/*ruːʔ/

Definitions

老

  1. old; aged; elderly
    Antonyms: 幼 (yòu), 少 (shǎo)
    老樹/老树  ―  lǎoshù  ―  old tree
    老婦人/老妇人  ―  lǎo fùrén  ―  old woman
    人老了記憶力就差了。 [MSC, trad.]
    人老了记忆力就差了。 [MSC, simp.]
    Rén lǎo le jìyìlì jiù chā le. [Pinyin]
    One's memory worsens when age increases.
  2. old (as opposed to new); of long standing
    Antonym: 新 (xīn)
    老歌  ―  lǎo gē  ―  old song
    老朋友  ―  lǎopéngyǒu  ―  old friend
  3. outdated; old-fashioned
  4. original; former
    老地方  ―  lǎo dìfāng  ―  usual place
    老本行  ―  lǎo běnháng  ―  original profession
  5. the elderly; one's elders
    敬老  ―  jìnglǎo  ―  to respect the elderly
  6. Used after the surname of an old person to address a venerable old person
    王老  ―  Wáng lǎo  ―  revered old Wang
  7. (figurative) experienced
    Antonym: 嫩 (nèn)
    老手  ―  lǎoshǒu  ―  an old hand
    老兵  ―  lǎobīng  ―  veteran
  8. (literary) to respect (the elderly, one's elders)
  9. (of cooked food) overcooked; tough; stringy; hard
    牛排太老了,我咬不動它。 [MSC, trad.]
    牛排太老了,我咬不动它。 [MSC, simp.]
    Niúpái tài lǎo le, wǒ yǎo bù dòng tā. [Pinyin]
    The steak was so tough I couldn't eat it.
    這雞蛋煮老了,你沒掌握好火候。 [MSC, trad.]
    这鸡蛋煮老了,你没掌握好火候。 [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
    你別老這樣!/你别老这样!  ―  Nǐ bié lǎo zhèyàng!  ―  Stop being always like this!
  12. (chiefly dialectal) very; quite
    老早  ―  lǎozǎo  ―  very early
    他人老好了。  ―  Tā rén lǎo hǎo le.  ―  He is such a nice person! [colloquial, somewhat regional]
    看到儂真個老開心。 [Shanghainese, trad.]
    看到侬真个老开心。 [Shanghainese, simp.]
    [kʰø³³ tɔ⁴⁴ nʊŋ²³ t͡səɲ⁵⁵ ɡ̊əʔ²¹ lɔ²³ kʰe̞⁵⁵ ɕɪɲ²¹] [IPA]
    I am really happy to see you.
  13. (euphemistic, of an elderly person) to die; to pass away (usually with 了 (le))
  14. (endearing, respectful) Used before surnames to refer to heads or elder members of families.
    → 小 (xiǎo) (for younger people)
    老張馬上來了,我得趕緊收拾一下屋子。 [MSC, trad.]
    老张马上来了,我得赶紧收拾一下屋子。 [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.
    老師/老师  ―  lǎoshī  ―  teacher
    老婆  ―  lǎopó  ―  wifey
    老公  ―  lǎogōng  ―  hubby
  16. (obsolete, originally honorific) Prefix for animals or people considered senior, fierce, and often awe-inspiring.
    老鷹/老鹰  ―  lǎoyīng  ―  eagle
    老虎  ―  lǎohǔ  ―  tiger
    老鼠  ―  lǎoshǔ  ―  mouse, rat; (obsolete) bat
    老狼  ―  lǎoláng  ―  (rare) elder and experienced wolf
    老貓/老猫  ―  lǎomāo  ―  (rare) elder (potentially annoying) cat
    老狐狸  ―  lǎohúlí  ―  (surviving usage) elder, cunning and experienced fox
    老傢夥/老家伙  ―  lǎojiāhuǒ  ―  (please add an English translation of this example)
    老東西/老东西  ―  lǎodōngxī  ―  (please add an English translation of this example)
    老雜碎/老杂碎  ―  lǎozásuì  ―  (please add an English translation of this example)
  17. (colloquial) Used before nouns, especially names of ethnicities, places and countries, to form nouns.
    老外  ―  lǎowài  ―  foreigner; (pejorative) layman, one who lacks knowledge of a subject
    老美  ―  lǎoměi  ―  Yank
    老表  ―  lǎobiǎo  ―  a friend (direct speech, may be intimate or offensive depending on provinces)
    老毛子  ―  lǎomáozi  ―  (pejorative) Russian person
    老蒙古  ―  lǎoménggǔ  ―  (pejorative) Mongols
    老北京  ―  lǎoběijīng  ―  indigenous Beijing person
    老山東/老山东  ―  lǎoshāndōng  ―  indigenous Shandong person
    老西兒/老西儿  ―  lǎoxīr  ―  (affectionate) Shanxi person
    老回回  ―  lǎohuíhuí  ―  Hui person (affectionate in some cases, pejorative in other cases, never neutral, depend on the region, speaker, listener situation and speaking mood)
  18. Short for 老子 (Lǎozǐ, “Laozi; Lao Tzu”).
  19. (Mainland China, Hong Kong) Short for 老撾/老挝 (Lǎowō, “Laos”).

Synonyms

  • (old):
  • (very):
  • (to die):

Antonyms

Compounds

Descendants

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

References

Japanese

Kanji

老

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

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

Readings

Compounds

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 老 (MC lɑuX).

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

Pronunciation

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

Hanja

老 (eumhun 늙을 로 (neulgeul ro), South Korea 늙을 노 (neulgeul no))

  1. Hanja form? of 로/노 (“old”). [affix; suffix]

Compounds

Vietnamese

Han character

老: Hán Việt readings: lão[1][2][3]
老: 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”).

References

  1. Nguyễn (2014).
  2. Nguyễn et al. (2009).
  3. Trần (2004).
  4. Hồ (1976).
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