年迈 (nián mài) — old; aged | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

年迈 is a formal, written word for 'aged / elderly,' used almost only for people. It is more literary than 老 and emphasizes advanced age, not just being old.

adjective

oldaged

Examples

年迈。
Tā nián mài de fù qīn měi tiān zǎo qǐ sàn bù.
His aged father takes a walk early every morning.
年迈。
Zhè jiā yī yuàn zhuān mén zhào gù nián mài de lǎo rén.
This hospital specializes in caring for the elderly.
年迈，。
Suī rán nián mài, tā réng rán jiān chí gōng zuò.
Although aged, she still insists on working.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

迈màiadvanced

年 as years and 迈 as advancing suggest years have advanced, meaning old.

Characters in this word

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.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Life Stages & Age

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