DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
老爺
简 老爷 · 繁 老爺Mandarin · pinyin lǎo ye
Meanings
- (respectful) lord
- master
- (coll.) maternal grandfather
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Mandarin tones
3–5 · lao3 ye5
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
2character links1same-tone record
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.Read this spelling in Classical texts
Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 10 senses · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
lou5 je4
Cantonese word readings for 老爺. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
noun
- master; lord
- (Mandarin, Jin, colloquial) alternative form of 姥爺 /姥爷 (lǎoye, “maternal grandfather; grandpa”)
- (Cantonese) father-in-law (husband's father)
- (Wanrong Mandarin, Jin) great-grandfather (particularly paternal grandfather's father)
- (Taiwanese Hakka) one's old father
- Term of address to a master by a servant.
- Term of address used by a woman to her husband.
- (Teochew) male god; deity
adj
- (attributive) old; vintage; classic
- (Cantonese, Malaysian Hokkien, Singapore Hokkien) old; old-fashioned
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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