大伯 (dà bó) — father's elder brother; (polite address) uncle (for an elderly man)

Definition

Family term for your father's elder brother, used within the paternal family. As a polite address to an older man outside the family, it's a respectful 'uncle' — warmer and more familiar than the neutral 先生.

noun
father's elder brother(polite address) uncle (for an elderly man)
Measure word · 位
Easily confused

Examples

  • 大伯。
    Wǒ dà bó zhù zài běi jīng.
    My father's elder brother lives in Beijing.
  • 大伯，。
    dà bó, Nín màn zǒu.
    Uncle, take care.
  • 大伯，。
    Zhè wèi shì wǒ dà bó, tā jīn nián liù shí suì le.
    This is my father's elder brother; he is sixty years old this year.

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.

大dàelder
伯bóuncle

'大' means elder or great, and '伯' is an uncle; together they refer to father's elder brother or a respectful uncle.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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
人人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái伯bó
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

伯 pairs 人 (person) with 白, which gives its sound.

Open 伯 →

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