小父さん

おじさん · ojisan · JLPT N2 · noun

gentleman

小父さん — gentleman

小 small + 父 father + さん honorific = little father, a polite term for an uncle

小 — three small strokes around a central vertical
小 is a pictograph originally showing three tiny dots or specks, suggesting small particles or grains. Over time the dots became stylized strokes flanking a central line. The core meaning 'small' has stayed remarkably stable from oracle bone script to today.

More Japanese words · How Japanese works