老朋友 (lǎo péng you) — old friend | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

old friend

Measure word · 位

老朋友。
Zuó tiān wǒ zài jiē shàng yù dào le yí gè lǎo péng you.
Yesterday I ran into an old friend on the street.
老朋友，。
lǎo péng you Jiàn miàn, zǒng yǒu shuō bù wán de huà.
When old friends meet, there's always endless talk.
老朋友，。
Tā shì wǒ dà xué shí de lǎo péng you, yǐ jīng shí nián méi jiàn le.
He is an old friend from my college days; I haven't seen him in ten years.

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/long-standing

朋友friend

联合Coordinate

老 “old/long-standing” and 朋友 “friend” combine to mean a friend of long standing.

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.

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

The old form of 朋 showed two strings of cowries side by side; the modern double shape came from this picture.

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

又又友

友 is drawn as two 又, the hand form, side by side. The old explanation says two hands together mean friendship.

Appears in