老ろう若にゃく

also: ろうじゃく

ろ

う

にゃ

く

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 100,000

Meanings

1

noun, na-adjective

young and old; all ages

Refers to people of all ages collectively, often used in contexts like events, facilities, or groups that include everyone from children to the elderly.

このイベントは老ろう若にゃく男なん女にょ

を

問と

わ

ず

楽たの

しめ

ます

。

This event can be enjoyed by people of all ages and genders.

老ろう若にゃくを問とわず多おおくの人ひとが参さん加かした。

Many people, young and old, participated.

Usage patterns

老ろう若にゃくを問とわずregardless of age (young or old)
このイベントは老ろう若にゃくを問とわず楽たのしめます。
This event can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

Kanji

老old man, old age, grow old
若young, if, perhaps

Related words

老ろう若にゃく男なん女にょN1
老若男女 spells out 'men and women of all ages' and is the far more common everyday phrase, while 老若 alone is a terser, more formal way of saying 'young and old'.
老ろう幼よう
老幼 is a slightly more literary synonym for 老若, both meaning 'the old and the young' but 老幼 appears mainly in written or formal contexts.

Don't confuse with

老ろう弱じゃく
老弱 (ろうじゃく) means 'old and weak/infirm', while 老若 (also sometimes read ろうじゃく) means 'young and old'—the shared reading and kanji '老' make them easy to mix up despite very different meanings.
老ろう若にゃく男なん女にょN1
老若 only means 'young and old' without mentioning gender, while 老若男女 adds 男女 to explicitly cover both men and women of all ages.

Word family

老ろう若にゃく男なん女にょN1
men and women of all ages; everyone, young and old

Written forms

老若Usage100%
- ろうにゃく
  Standard kanji spelling; the reading ろうにゃく is the most common.
- ろうじゃく
  Alternate reading, also common; both readings are widely accepted.
ろうじゃく

Etymology

Compound of 老 (old) and 若 (young). The reading ろうにゃく is the standard on'yomi combination; ろうじゃく is a variant reading.