伯 bó older brother
older brother; father's elder brother; sir; sire
怎么记住“伯”: 亻 person + 白 white = older brother. In the old photo one person stands out with hair already white at twenty, Dad's older brother.
部件结构
形声 · Meaning + sound
One part gives the meaning, the other gives the sound.
伯 = 亻 person + 白 white
- 亻 person meaning
- 白 white sound
In the old photo one person stands out with hair already white at twenty, Dad's older brother.
How it came to be
The small seal form is a person beside the sign for white: the person gives the meaning, and white gives the sound.
用法
- Father's elder brother, and a polite term for older men: 伯父 (bófù) uncle (dad's older brother), 大伯 (dàbó), 老伯 (lǎobó) sir/uncle to an elder.
- Distinguish from 叔 (shū), father's younger brother: Chinese splits paternal uncles by age.
- Also the third of the five ancient noble ranks (公侯伯子男), roughly 'count'; as a surname reads bó.