老 lǎo venerable; old
Made up of [耂 lǎo old radical 125, 匕 bǐ spoon; ladle radical 21]Made with 6 strokes.
A simplification of the characters for 'hair'; 'person' and 'change' immediately suggesting the change to white hair of the elderly
Ancient small seal form 
Related characters
Also uses 耂 lǎo component: 暑 shǔ (heat) 孝 xiào (filial piety or obedience) ; 者 zhě (in process of)
Also uses 匕 bǐ component: 北 běi (north) 此 cǐ (this) ; 化 huà (to make into) ; 华 huá (splendid) ; 花 huā (flower) ; 呢 ne (and you?) ; 能 néng (to be able to) ; 死 sǐ (die) ; 它 tā (it)
Sounds same
耂 lǎo (old)Different tone
劳 láo (to toil)Pronunciation
Sound file kindly provided by shtooka.net ➚ under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License
Stroke order for character 老, kindly provided under Wikimedia creative commons license ➚
People
老子 Lao ZiProverbs
穿新鞋,走老路 chuān xīn xié, zǒu lǎo lù Stick to the old ways while appearing to follow the latest trends姜是老的辣 jiāng shì lǎo de là Experience gives wisdom
老骥伏枥,志在千里 lǎo jì fú lì, zhì zài qiān lǐ Ambitions never fade. An old person still has high hopes
老奸巨猾 lǎo jiān jù huá To be tricky, cunning, crafty. Well versed in the ways of the world
老气横秋 lǎo qì héng qiū No longer youthful
识途老马 shí tú laǒ mǎ Age brings experience and wisdom