老头儿 (lǎo tóu er) — old man (colloquial, affectionate or familiar)

Definition

Colloquial, familiar way to say 'old man' — often affectionate, like 'old guy'. Compare with 老人 (neutral) and 老头子 (can be dismissive).

noun

old man (colloquial, affectionate or familiar)

Measure word · 个

老头儿。
Nà ge lǎo tóu er zài gōng yuán lǐ sàn bù.
That old man is taking a walk in the park.
老头儿。
lǎo tóu er Měi tiān zǎo shàng dōu lái zhè r xià qí.
The old man comes here every morning to play chess.
老头儿？
Nǐ rèn shi nà ge chuān hóng yī fu de lǎo tóu er ma?
Do you know that old man in red clothes?

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

老头old man

偏正Modifier + head

老 gives age, 头 points to a person, and 儿 adds familiar colloquial color.

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

豆頁頭

Meaning part形符xíngfú

頁頁yèhead

Sound part声符shēngfú

豆

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

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

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.

Appears in