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老年 (lǎo nián) — old age

Definition

老年 is the abstract noun for 'old age' itself (e.g. 老年生活 'life in old age'), not a person — for people, use 老人. More neutral than 高龄 (advanced/elderly).

noun
old age

Examples

  • 老年。
    Tā de lǎo nián shēng huó hěn kuài lè.
    His life in old age is very happy.
  • 老年。
    Hěn duō rén guān xīn lǎo nián de shēng huó.
    Many people care about life in old age.
  • 老年。
    Wǒ xī wàng wǒ de lǎo nián jiàn kāng yòu kuài lè.
    I hope my old age is healthy and happy.

Origin

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.

老lǎoold
年niányear

老 (old) and 年 (years) together mean the later years of life.

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.

Open 老 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
禾禾héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Open 年 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4Life Stages & Age

Browse more HSK 4 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.