老子
Chinese
old; aged; venerable; outdated; experienced; (affectionate prefix) |
child; son; (noun suffix); small thing; seed; egg; 1st earthly branch; 11 pm-1 am; midnight | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| simp. and trad. (老子) |
老 | 子 | |
Pronunciation 1
Proper noun
老子
- Laozi (604–531 BCE), a Chinese philosopher, and founder of Taoism
- Laozi (also called Tao Te Ching, a book of philosophy supposedly written by Laozi)
Pronunciation 2
Pronoun
老子
Usage notes
When 老子 (lǎozi) is used this way, it often gives off an arrogant, angry, childish or humorous tone.
Noun
老子
- old man
- (slang) father; old man
- (dated or regional) son; young man (i.e. a mother scolding her son)
- 最奇怪的是昨天街上的那個女人，打他兒子，嘴裏說道：「老子呀！我要咬你幾口纔出氣！」他眼睛卻看着我。 [MSC, trad.]
- From: 1918, Lu Xun, A Madman's Diary
- Zuì qíguài de shì zuótiān jiē shàng de nàge nǚrén, dǎ tā érzǐ, zuǐ lǐ shuōdào: “Lǎozi ya! Wǒ yào yǎo nǐ jǐ kǒu shān chūqì!” Tā yǎnjīng què kàn zhe wǒ. [Pinyin]
- The strangest was a woman on the street yesterday. She was hitting her son. From her mouth, I heard her say, "Young man! I'd like to take a few bites out of you just to vent my anger!" Yet, her eyes were fixed on me.
最奇怪的是昨天街上的那个女人，打他儿子，嘴里说道：“老子呀！我要咬你几口才出气！”他眼睛却看着我。 [MSC, simp.]
Japanese
Etymology 1
| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 老 | 子 |
| おい Grade: 4 |
こ > ご Grade: 1 |
| kun’yomi | |
Compound of 老い (oi, “stem of verb oiru, to become old”) + 子 (ko, “child”). The ko changes to go due to rendaku (連濁).
Synonyms
- 年寄り子 (としよりこ, toshiyoriko)
Proper noun
老子 (hiragana ろうし, rōmaji Rōshi, historical hiragana らうし)
- Laozi, a philosopher of ancient China
- the Tao Te Ching, a book of philosophy supposedly written by Laozi
Further reading
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