老酒 (lǎo jiǔ) — aged liquor; aged wine; aged alcohol

Definition

Refers to liquor (白酒, 黄酒, etc.) that has been aged/cellared, valued for its mellow, rich flavor. It's a concrete, countable noun — one bottle, a case — distinct from the general word 酒 for any alcohol.

noun
aged liquoraged wineaged alcohol
Measure word · 瓶

Examples

  • 老酒，。
    Zhè píng lǎo jiǔ zhēn cáng le èr shí nián, kǒu gǎn gé wài chún hòu.
    This bottle of aged liquor has been cellared for twenty years and has an exceptionally mellow taste.
  • 老酒。
    Tā sòng le yì xiāng lǎo jiǔ gěi yuè fù zuò wéi shòu lǐ.
    He gave a case of aged wine to his father-in-law as a birthday gift.
  • 老酒。
    Zhè jiā jiǔ chǎng niàng zào de lǎo jiǔ zài guó nèi wài dōu hěn yǒu míng.
    The aged liquor produced by this distillery is well-known both domestically and abroad.

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; aged
酒jiǔliquor

老 adds the idea of age to 酒, so the word means liquor that has aged.

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
水水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
酉
酉yǒu酒jiǔ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

酒 pairs 酉, the original picture for this word, with 水 (water), added later to distinguish it.

Open 酒 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.