老板
lǎobǎn · HSK 3
Tuan
👔 老板 = old (老) + board/plank (板); the senior 'board' member who runs the shop
老 means old/senior and 板 literally means board or plank, extended to 'boss' — the senior figure at the head board of a business. Same 板 appears in 黑板 (blackboard) and 老板娘 (boss's wife / lady proprietor).
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.
板 — wood radical 木 + 反 (fǎn, phonetic)
板 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The 木 'wood' radical signals the meaning — a flat piece of wood, i.e. a board or plank. The right side 反 supplies the sound, historically close to 'bǎn/pàn'. Over time it extended to mean any flat panel, and figuratively 'stiff' or 'inflexible'.
lǎo bǎn · HSK 3
bos
💼 老板 = old (老) + board/plank (板); historically the shop's senior boardholder
老 means old/senior, 板 means board or plank — together they name the person who holds the shop's signboard, i.e. the owner or boss. Modern usage covers any boss, manager, or business proprietor.
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.
板 — wood radical 木 + 反 (fǎn, phonetic)
板 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The 木 'wood' radical signals the meaning — a flat piece of wood, i.e. a board or plank. The right side 反 supplies the sound, historically close to 'bǎn/pàn'. Over time it extended to mean any flat panel, and figuratively 'stiff' or 'inflexible'.