老子

Chinese

		old; aged; venerable old; aged; venerable; outdated; experienced; (affectionate prefix)	child; son; (noun suff.) child; son; (noun suff.); small thing; midnight; 11 p.m.-1 a.m.; seed; egg; 1st earthly branch
simp. and trad. (老子)		老	子

Pronunciation 1

Mandarin
(Pinyin): Lǎozǐ

(Zhuyin): ㄌㄠˇ ㄗˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): lou⁵ zi²
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): Ló-chṳ́
Min Dong (BUC): Lō̤-cṳ̄
Min Nan (POJ): Ló-chú

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: Lǎozǐ [Phonetic: láozǐ]
  - Zhuyin: ㄌㄠˇ ㄗˇ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Laotzyy
  - IPA ^(key): /lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ t͡sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: lou⁵ zi²
  - Yale: lóuh jí
  - Cantonese Pinyin: lou⁵ dzi²
  - Guangdong Romanization: lou⁵ ji²
  - IPA ^(key): /lou̯¹³ t͡siː³⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Ló-chṳ́
  - Hakka Romanization System: lo` zii`
  - Hagfa Pinyim: lo³ zi³
  - IPA: /lo³¹ t͡sɨ³¹/
Min Dong
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: Lō̤-cṳ̄
  - IPA ^(key): /l̃o³³⁻³⁵ ^(t͡s-)ʒy³³/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ló-chú
  - Tâi-lô: Ló-tsú
  - Phofsit Daibuun: loyzuo
  - IPA (Xiamen): /lo⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡su⁵³/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /lo⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ t͡su⁵⁵⁴/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /lo⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡su⁵³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /lo⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡su⁵³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /lɤ⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ t͡su⁴¹/

Proper noun

老子

Laozi (604–531 BCE), a Chinese philosopher, and founder of Taoism
Laozi (also called Tao Te Ching, a book of philosophy supposedly written by Laozi)

Pronunciation 2

Mandarin
(Pinyin): lǎozi

(Zhuyin): ㄌㄠˇ ˙ㄗ
Cantonese (Jyutping): lou⁵ zi²
Min Nan (POJ): láu-chír / láu-chú

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: lǎozi
  - Zhuyin: ㄌㄠˇ ˙ㄗ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: lao.tzy
  - IPA ^(key): /lɑʊ̯²¹⁴ d͡z̥z̩⁴/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: lou⁵ zi²
  - Yale: lóuh jí
  - Cantonese Pinyin: lou⁵ dzi²
  - Guangdong Romanization: lou⁵ ji²
  - IPA ^(key): /lou̯¹³ t͡siː³⁵/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: láu-chír
  - Tâi-lô: láu-tsír
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /laʊ⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ t͡sɯ⁵⁵⁴/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: láu-chú
  - Tâi-lô: láu-tsú
  - Phofsit Daibuun: lawzuo
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /laʊ⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡su⁵³/

Pronoun

老子

(colloquial, male) I; me

老子才不怕老闆呢。 [MSC, trad.]
老子才不怕老板呢。 [MSC, simp.]
Lǎozi cái bù pà lǎobǎn ne. [Pinyin]
I'm not afraid of the boss.

Usage notes

When 老子 is used this way, it often gives off an arrogant, angry, childish or humorous tone.

Noun

老子

old man
(slang) father; old man
(dated or regional) son; young man (i.e. a mother scolding her son)
- 最奇怪的是昨天街上的那個女人，打他兒子，嘴裏說道：「老子呀！我要咬你幾口纔出氣！」他眼睛卻看着我。 [MSC, trad.]
  最奇怪的是昨天街上的那个女人，打他儿子，嘴里说道：“老子呀！我要咬你几口才出气！”他眼睛却看着我。 [MSC, simp.]
  From: 1918, Lu Xun, A Madman's Diary
  Zuì qíguài de shì zuótiān jiē shàng de nàge nǚrén, dǎ tā érzǐ, zuǐ lǐ shuōdào: “Lǎozi ya! Wǒ yào yǎo nǐ jǐ kǒu shān chūqì!” Tā yǎnjīng què kàn zhe wǒ. [Pinyin]
  The strangest was a woman on the street yesterday. She was hitting her son. From her mouth, I heard her say, "Young man! I'd like to take a few bites out of you just to vent my anger!" Yet, her eyes were fixed on me.

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
老	子
おい Grade: 4	こ > ご Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Compound of 老い (oi, “stem of verb oiru, to become old”) +‎ 子 (ko, “child”). The ko changes to go due to rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

Kun'yomi
IPA^(key): [o̞iɡo̞], [o̞iŋo̞]

Noun

老子 (hiragana おいご, rōmaji oigo)

a child of older parents

Synonyms

年寄り子 (としよりこ, toshiyoriko)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
老	子
ろう Grade: 4	し Grade: 1
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese.

Pronunciation

On'yomi
IPA^(key): [ro̞ːɕi]

Proper noun

老子 (hiragana ろうし, rōmaji Rōshi, historical hiragana らうし)

Laozi, a philosopher of ancient China
the Tao Te Ching, a book of philosophy supposedly written by Laozi

老子

Chinese

Pronunciation 1

Proper noun

Pronunciation 2

Pronoun

Usage notes

Noun

Japanese

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

Synonyms

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Further reading