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老佛爺

简老佛爷 · 繁老佛爺

Mandarin · pinyin Lǎo fó yé

title of respect for the queen mother or the emperor's father
nickname for Empress Dowager Cixi 慈禧太后 Cí xǐ tài hòu

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Characters in this entry

老: lǎo · old, aged; experienced; Kangxi radical 125
佛: fú · Buddha; of Buddhism; merciful person; Buddhist image; the dead (Japanese)
爺: Look up this written character
爷: yé · father, grandfather

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Mandarin tones

3–2–2 · Lao3 fo2 ye2

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 4 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun · Etymology 1

(archaic) A term of address and title for an empress dowager, queen dowager, empress mother, queen mother, or the like.
(Buddhism, informal) Buddha

name · Etymology 1

(late Qing) A title of respect for Empress Dowager Cixi.

name · Etymology 2

(usually used in compounds) Lafayette; La Fayette

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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