Taxonomy of meanings for 叟:　　

  • 叟 sǒu (OC: sooʔ MC: səu) 蘇后切 上 廣韻：【老叜蘇后切十五 】
    • OLD MAN
      • nMENG: polite word for a venerable old man; fangyan: Northern (Qí/Lǔ) dialect: old man
      • nvocativeVenerable Sir!
    • YOU
      • n[post=npro]you, venerable Sir
  • 叟 sǒu (OC: sooʔ MC: səu) 蘇后切 上 廣韻：【同叜 】

    Additional information about 叟

    說文解字:

      Criteria
    • OLD MAN

      1. Sǒu 叟 (ant. tóng 童 "young boy") and the somewhat rarer zhàng rén 丈人 (ant. hái tí 孩提 "child") refer respectfully to a venerable old man of some status.

      2. Fǔ 父 is a southern dialect word referring to an old man.

      3. Lǎo 老 (ant. yòu 幼 "young person") is a neutral term referring generically to the aged, including men and women.

      4. Wēng 翁 (ant. ér 兒 "young child") refers generally to an old man without suggestions of venerability, but the word became current only in Han times.

    • WOMAN

      1. The current general word for a woman is nu# 女 (ant. nán 男 "male"), and the word can also refer to unmarried women.

      2. Fù 婦 (ant. fū 夫 "married man") refers to a woman who is either married or definitely of marriagable age.

      3. Aυ 媼 and yù 嫗 (ant. wēng 翁 and sōu 叟 "old man") refer to old women.

      4. Bì 婢 (ant. pú 僕 "male of low status") refers to a woman of low social status.

      5. Nu# zǐ 女子 (ant. nán zǐ 男子 "male") can refer to a female child (as well as being an administrative way of referring to - preferably counted - females).