老远 (lǎo yuǎn) — very far away; a long way off | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A colloquial way to say 'a long way off / very far away,' usually used before 就 or as a predicate with 的. It stresses distance subjectively, more vivid than the plain 远.

verb

very far awaya long way off

Examples

老远，。
Tā zhù dé lǎo yuǎn, měi tiān yào zuò liǎng gè xiǎo shí chē.
He lives very far away and has to take a two-hour bus every day.
老远。
Wǒ lǎo yuǎn jiù wén dào huā xiāng le.
I could smell the flowers from far away.
老远，。
Cóng zhè lǐ dào xué xiào lǎo yuǎn de, zǒu lù yào yí gè xiǎo shí.
It's a long way from here to school — walking takes an hour.

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 gives the sense of very and 远 gives the sense of far, so the whole means a long way off.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

人人rénman
毛毛máohair
匕匕bǐcane

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

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

辶元远

Meaning part形符xíngfú

辶Written in full as辵chuòwalk

Sound part声符shēngfú

元

元yuán远yuǎn

Same sound today

远 combines 辶, meaning walk, with 元, used for its sound.

Appears in

Size & Dimension

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