老化
lǎo huà · HSK 7
to age
🍂 老化 = 老 (old) + 化 (-ify suffix) = to grow old, age
化 is the verb-making suffix like English -ize/-ify (现代化 = modern + -ize = modernize). So 老 (old) + 化 = the process of becoming old, i.e. aging.
老 — old man 耂 + 匕 (bent figure)
Originally a pictograph of an elderly person with long hair leaning on a cane. The top 耂 depicts the hair and stooped body, while 匕 at the bottom represents the cane or a bent figure. The core meaning 'old' has remained stable since oracle bone script.
化 — person 亻 + spoon/upside-down person 匕
化 is an associative compound showing a standing person 亻 next to 匕, originally a depiction of a person turned upside-down. Together they suggest a figure transforming from one state to another, giving the core meaning 'change' or 'transform'. The character later extended to senses like 'convert', 'influence', and the noun suffix '-ization'.