姥 (lǎo): grandma (maternal), governess, old woman
姥 (lǎo) is a Chinese character meaning “grandma (maternal).” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 女 (structural) and 老 (structural). It ranks #2679 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 姥 an older 老 woman 女; 老 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 女 (woman) appears in many related characters such as 女 (nǚ, woman), 奶 (nǎi, grandmother, milk), 她 (tā, she).
Definitions
- grandma (maternal)
- governess
- old woman
Etymology & Origin
ideographicAn older 老 woman 女; 老 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰女老 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 姥
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 刘姥姥进大观园phrase | liú lǎo lao jìn dà guān yuán | Granny Liu visits the Grand View gardens |
| 老姥 | lǎo mǔ | old lady |
| 姥娘noun | lǎo niáng | maternal grandmother (dialectal) |
| 姑姥姥noun | gū lǎo lao | mother's father's sister (coll.) |
| 姨姥姥noun | yí lǎo lao | mother's mother's sister |
| 姥鲨noun | lǎo shā | basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) |
姥 appears in 8 compound words: 50 as the first character, 13 as the last, and 38 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 姥 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
古时候，姥子很少有机会接受教育。
gǔ shí hòu , lǎo zǐ hěn shǎo yǒu jī huì jiē shòu jiào yù .
In ancient times, grandmothers rarely had the opportunity to receive an education.
孙佳炜从小跟着姥爷学皮影，哪一道工序意味着什么，他心里都有数。
sūn jiā 炜 cóng xiǎo gēn zhe lǎo yé xué pí yǐng , nǎ yī dào gōng xù yì wèi zhe shén má , tā xīn lǐ dōu yǒu shǔ .
Sun Jiawei learned the art of shadow puppetry from his maternal grandfather when he was young, and he understands exactly what each step of the process entails.
我小时候，4岁以前，妈妈带着我和妹妹跟着在农村的姥爷生活了一段时间。
wǒ xiǎo shí hòu , 4 suì yǐ qián , mā mā dài zhe wǒ hé mèi mèi gēn zhe zài nóng cūn de lǎo yé shēng huó le yī duàn shí jiān .
When I was a child—before I turned four—my mom took my sister and me to live with my grandfather in the countryside for a while.
我姥姥只喝了点儿汤。
Wǒ lǎolao zhǐ hē le diǎnr tāng.
My grandma just drank a bit of soup.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 姥 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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