伯 bó older brother
older brother; father's elder brother; sir; sire
How to remember 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.
Component breakdown
伯 = 亻 person + 白 white
- 亻 person
- 白 white
In the old photo one person stands out with hair already white at twenty, Dad's older brother.
How it is used
- 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.