noun, noun, used as a prefix, noun, used as a suffix
Used as a noun, prefix, or suffix to refer to old age, elderly people, or senior status. Common in compounds like 老後 (retirement years) and 老人 (elderly person).
老を迎える準備を始めた。
I started preparing for old age.
老親の介護は大変だ。
Caring for elderly parents is tough.
pronoun
Archaic humble first-person pronoun used by elderly people to refer to themselves. Not used in modern Japanese outside historical or literary contexts.
老はもう長くない。
I, an old person, do not have much time left.