老子

Chinese

		old; aged; venerable old; aged; venerable; outdated; experienced; (affectionate prefix)	child; son; (noun suffix) child; son; (noun suffix); small thing; seed; egg; 1st earthly branch; 11 pm-1 am; midnight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

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): Lǎozǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄠˇ ㄗˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lou⁵ zi²
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): Ló-chṳ́
• Min Dong (BUC): Lō̤-cṳ̄
• Min Nan

  (Hokkien, POJ): Ló-chú

  (Teochew, Peng'im): lao⁶ ze²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: Lǎozǐ [Phonetic: láozǐ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄠˇ ㄗˇ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Laotzyy
    • Tongyong Pinyin: Lǎozǐh
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ t͡sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: lou⁵ zi²
    • Yale: lóuh jí
    • Cantonese Pinyin: lou⁵ dzi²
    • Guangdong Romanization: lou⁵ ji²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lou̯¹³ t͡siː³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Ló-chṳ́
    • Hakka Romanization System: lo` zii`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: lo³ zi³
    • Sinological IPA: /lo³¹ t͡sɨ³¹/
• Min Dong
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: Lō̤-cṳ̄
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /l̃o³³⁻³⁵ ^(t͡s-)ʒy³³/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ló-chú
    • Tâi-lô: Ló-tsú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: loyzuo
    • IPA (Xiamen): /lo⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡su⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /lo⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ t͡su⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /lo⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡su⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /lo⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡su⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /lɤ⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ t͡su⁴¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: lao⁶ ze²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: lău tsṳ́
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lau³⁵⁻¹¹ t͡sɯ⁵²/

Proper noun

老子

1. Laozi (604–531 BCE), a Chinese philosopher, and founder of Taoism
2. Laozi (also called Tao Te Ching, a book of philosophy supposedly written by Laozi)

Pronunciation 2

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lǎozi

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄠˇ ˙ㄗ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lou⁵ zi²
• Min Nan (POJ): láu-chír / láu-chú

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: lǎozi
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄠˇ ˙ㄗ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: lao.tzy
    • Tongyong Pinyin: lǎozi̊h
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɑʊ̯²¹⁴ d͡z̥z̩⁴/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: lou⁵ zi²
    • Yale: lóuh jí
    • Cantonese Pinyin: lou⁵ dzi²
    • Guangdong Romanization: lou⁵ ji²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lou̯¹³ t͡siː³⁵/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: láu-chír
    • Tâi-lô: láu-tsír
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /laʊ⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ t͡sɯ⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: láu-chú
    • Tâi-lô: láu-tsú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: lawzuo
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /laʊ⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡su⁵³/

Pronoun

老子

1. (colloquial, male) I; me

   老子才不怕老闆呢。 [MSC, trad.]
   老子才不怕老板呢。 [MSC, simp.]

   Lǎozi cái bù pà lǎobǎn ne. [Pinyin]

   I'm not afraid of the boss.

Usage notes

When 老子 (lǎozi) is used this way, it often gives off an arrogant, angry, childish or humorous tone.

Noun

老子

1. old man
2. (slang) father; old man
3. (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.]
     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.]

     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.

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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).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [o̞iɡo̞], [o̞iŋo̞]

Noun

老子 (hiragana おいご, rōmaji oigo)

1. a child of older parents

Synonyms

• 年寄り子 (としよりこ, toshiyoriko)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
老	子
ろう Grade: 4	し Grade: 1
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• IPA^(key): [ro̞ːɕi]

Proper noun

老子 (hiragana ろうし, rōmaji Rōshi, historical hiragana らうし)

1. Laozi, a philosopher of ancient China
2. the Tao Te Ching, a book of philosophy supposedly written by Laozi

Further reading

• 老子 on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^ja
• Laozi on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• 老子道徳経 on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^ja
• Tao Te Ching on Wikipedia.Wikipedia