old

lǎo (lao3)

Radical no. 125 · 6 strokes (125 部首 · 6 125 bùshǒu · 6 huà)

Radical ⽼ (lǎo) — meaning: old, 6 strokes.

Origin & mnemonic

The "old" radical originates from a pictographic depiction of a person with white hair and a bent back. In early pictographic and seal-script forms, it represents the visual characteristics of an elderly person.

Mnemonic: Picture a person wearing a hat (top part) with a bent back and knowing wink—that's the hallmark of old age.

Characters with this radical (含此部首的字 hán cǐ bùshǒu de zì)

2 characters
  • gǒu

    old variant of 耇[gou3]

    11 strokes

  • dié

    aged

    12 strokes

Related radicals (相关部首 xiāngguān bùshǒu)

Same stroke count or numerically adjacent in the 214-radical set.