老同事 (lǎo tóng shì) — former colleague

Definition

noun

former colleague

Measure word · 位

老同事。
Wǒ zài jiē shàng yù dào le yí gè lǎo tóng shì.
I ran into a former colleague on the street.
老同事。
Tā hé lǎo tóng shì men hái bǎo chí zhe lián xì.
He still keeps in touch with his former colleagues.
老同事。
Nà wèi lǎo tóng shì tuì xiū hòu huí dào le jiā xiāng.
That former colleague returned to his hometown after retiring.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

同事colleague

偏正Modifier + head

老 marks a colleague from long ago, and 同事 means people working together.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

同 originally drew a pipe. It is the old form of 筒.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.