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		old; aged; venerable old; aged; venerable; outdated; experienced; (affectionate prefix)	child; son; (noun suffix) child; son; (noun suffix); small thing; seed; egg; 1st earthly branch; 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight
trad. (老子)		老	子
simp. #(老子)		老	子

Pronunciation 1

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): Lǎozǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄠˇ ㄗˇ

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

  (Hokkien, POJ): Ló-chú

  (Teochew, Peng'im): lao⁶ ze²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: Lǎozǐ [Phonetic: láozǐ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄠˇ ㄗˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: Lǎozǐh
    • Wade–Giles: Lao³-tzŭ³
    • Yale: Lǎu-dž
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Laotzyy
    • Palladius: Лаоцзы (Laoczy)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ t͡sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • 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/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: Lō̤-cṳ̄
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /l̃o³³⁻³⁵ ^(t͡s-)ʒy³³/
• Southern Min
  • (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

(deprecated template usage) 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)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (老子):

• → Japanese: 老(ろう)子(し) (rōshi)
• → Korean: 로자(老子) (roja), 노자(老子) (noja)
• → Vietnamese: Lão Tử (老子)

Pronunciation 2

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lǎozi

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄠˇ ˙ㄗ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lou⁵ zi²
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): láu-chír / láu-chú

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: lǎozi
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄠˇ ˙ㄗ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: lǎozi̊h
    • Wade–Giles: lao³-tzŭ⁵
    • Yale: lǎu-dz
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: lao.tzy
    • Palladius: лаоцзы (laoczy)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɑʊ̯²¹⁴ d͡z̥z̩⁴/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: lou⁵ zi²
    • Yale: lóuh jí
    • Cantonese Pinyin: lou⁵ dzi²
    • Guangdong Romanization: lou⁵ ji²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lou̯¹³ t͡siː³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: láu-chír
    • Tâi-lô: láu-tsír
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /lau⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ t͡sɯ⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: láu-chú
    • Tâi-lô: láu-tsú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: lawzuo
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /lau⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡su⁵³/

Pronoun

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

(deprecated template usage) 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 cái 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.

(deprecated template usage)

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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(おい)子(ご) • (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 (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle Chinese.

Proper noun

老(ろう)子(し) • (Rōshi) ^{←らうし (rausi)?}

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