郎ろう

suffix

nth son; male name suffix

Productive suffix in traditional male given names, indicating birth order (太郎, 次郎, 三郎, etc.). Still common in modern names, though not freely attachable to any word.

• 彼かれの名な前まえは太た郎ろうです。

  His name is Tarō.

• 次じ郎ろうは私わたしの弟おとうとです。

  Jirō is my younger brother.

noun

official title in ancient China

Historical Chinese bureaucratic title; not used in modern Japanese outside historical contexts.

• 古こ代だい中ちゅう国ごくでは、郎ろうは官かん職しょくの一ひとつだった。

  In ancient China, 郎 was one of the official titles.

noun

man; young man; husband; lover; nth child

Archaic uses: (1) a man or young man; (2) a woman's husband or lover; (3) a suffix for nth child regardless of gender. All are obsolete in modern Japanese.

• 古こ文ぶんでは、郎ろうは若わかい男だん性せいを指さすことがある。

  In classical texts, 郎 can refer to a young man.

• 昔むかしの女じょ性せいは夫おっとを「郎ろう」と呼よんだ。

  Women in the past called their husbands '郎'.