老死

Chinese

		old; aged; venerable old; aged; venerable; outdated; experienced; (affectionate prefix)	to die; impassable; uncrossable to die; impassable; uncrossable; inflexible; rigid
trad. (老死)		老	死
simp. #(老死)		老	死

Etymology

old age and death

Calque of Sanskrit जरामरण (jarāmaraṇa), from जरा (jarā, “old age”) + मरण (maraṇa, “death”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lǎosǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄠˇ ㄙˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lou⁵ sei²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: lǎosǐ [Phonetic: láosǐ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄠˇ ㄙˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: lǎosǐh
    • Wade–Giles: lao³-ssŭ³
    • Yale: lǎu-sž
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: laosyy
    • Palladius: лаосы (laosy)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: lou⁵ sei²
    • Yale: lóuh séi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: lou⁵ sei²
    • Guangdong Romanization: lou⁵ séi²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lou̯¹³ sei̯³⁵/

Verb

老死

1. to die of old age; to die a natural death

   黃伯今日死咗，死因係老死。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   黄伯今日死咗，死因系老死。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   wong^4-2 baak³ gam¹ jat⁶ sei² zo², sei² jan¹ hai⁶ lou⁵ sei². [Jyutping]

   Old Man Wong died today; the cause was old age.

Noun

老死

1. (Cantonese) close friend; very good friend

   小明係我個老死。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   小明系我个老死。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   siu² ming⁴ hai⁶ ngo⁵ go³ lou⁵ sei². [Jyutping]

   Siu Ming is a close friend of mine.

2. (Buddhism) old age and death.

Synonyms

• 老友 (lǎoyǒu), 死黨／死党 (sǐdǎng)