Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

laozi

/ˈlaʊdzə/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.76 in modern English

Syllables
Lao-zi
IPA
/ˈlaʊdzə/
14
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

An honorific title for the legendary Taoist philosopher Li Er, who supposedly lived in the 6th and 5th centuries BC and (Chinese mythology) has subsequently been worshipped as a Taoist god.

name

Synonym of Tao Te Ching.

Etymology

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the standard Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 老子 (“the Old One, the Venerable One”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈlaʊdzə/
  • British English: /ˈlaʊtzə/

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in People.

Inflected Forms

Laosi (alternative) Lao Tse (alternative) Lao Tu (alternative) Lao-Tzu (alternative) Lao-Tsu (alternative) Laotze (alternative) Lao Zi (alternative) Laou-tsze (alternative) Laocius (alternative, Latinate)

Phrases

a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Frequently Paired Words

a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Synonyms

Tao Te Ching Laojun

Questions

How do you pronounce laozi?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈlaʊdzə/.
What does laozi mean?
An honorific title for the legendary Taoist philosopher Li Er, who supposedly lived in the 6th and 5th centuries BC and (Chinese mythology) has subsequently been worshipped as a Taoist god.
Where does laozi come from?
It is traced to Chinese.

How to pronounce laozi

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “laozi”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈlaʊdzə/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “laozi”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “laozi” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.