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老

old man
Stroke count: 6

Readings

On readingロウ
Kun readingお.いる、ふ.ける
JLPT level: N2JōyōGrade 4

Meanings

  1. old manRtK
  2. old age
  3. grow old
    老衰するな！老成せよ！Don't grow old, grow wise!tatoeba
  1. to age
  2. to grow old

Popular Usage

老い老いる

Radicals and components

Radical老old
Components
How it's built
老
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Mnemonic (RtK)

ⓘ

soil (土) · dirt (土) · ground (土) · spoon (匕) · sitting on the ground

From "Remembering the Kanji" by James Heisig · Frame 1340

Compound words

老いおい
old age; ageing; aging; old person; the elderly
老衰ろうすい
senility; senile decay; infirmity (through age)
老齢ろうれい
old age; advanced age
老若ろうにゃく
young and old; all ages
老化ろうか
ageing; aging; senile deterioration
老いるおいる
to age; to grow old
敬老けいろう
respect for the aged
元老げんろう
elder statesman; doyen; old-timer; authority; genrō (member of a pre-WWII body that informally advised the emperor)
初老しょろう
past middle age; nearing old age; near-elderly; age 40
長老ちょうろう
elder; senior; senior monk; dean; presbyter
老朽ろうきゅう
infirmity (due to old age); decrepitude; senility; senescence; superannuation
老後ろうご
old age
老子ろうし
Laozi; Lao Tzu; Lao Tse
老人ろうじん
old person; senior citizen; the aged; the elderly
老婆ろうば
old woman
老舗しにせ
long-established shop; shop of long standing; old shop
海老えび
prawn; shrimp; lobster
老眼ろうがん
presbyopia; age-related longsightedness; farsightedness
老婦ろうふ
old woman
老年ろうねん
old age
養老ようろう
making provision for the elderly; making provision for one's old age; spending one's old age in comfort; Yōrō era (717.11.17-724.2.4)
老女ろうじょ
elderly woman; senior lady-in-waiting
養老院ようろういん
home for the aged; old people's home
老けるふける
to age; to grow old (esp. in appearance); to show marks of age

On Reading Examples

老女は御客をじろじろ見た。ろうじょ
The old woman studied the visitor carefully.tatoeba

Additional Examples

彼は分厚いめがねをかけた小柄な老人だった。
He was a little old man with thick glasses.tatoeba
彼は非常に年老いて病気でした。
He was very old and ill.tatoeba
彼は年老いていたので泳げなかった。
He was too old to swim.tatoeba
彼は年老いた。
He grew old.tatoeba

Stroke Order

6 strokes

Practice Writing

Practice Writing 老

Draw with a guide, then from memory — checked at every step