公公
husband's father; paternal grandfather; honorific for old men
Meanings
5 senses · 11 examplesnoun
husband's father; father-in-law (from wife's perspective)
Specifically refers to a woman's father-in-law (her husband's father).
She lives together with her parents-in-law.
She is very filial to her father-in-law.
noun
paternal grandfather (dialectal)
dialectUsed in some southern Chinese dialects to refer to one's paternal grandfather.
My colleague from Guangdong calls his grandfather "Ah Gong".
Grandpa, I'm back!
noun
maternal grandfather (dialectal)
dialectUsed in some dialects to refer to one's maternal grandfather.
In Hokkien, "maternal grandfather" is also often abbreviated as "Gong".
I grew up in my maternal grandfather's home.
noun
honorific title for an elderly man
honorificOften used with a surname or the character '老' (lǎo) as a respectful form of address for an old man.
Old Mr. Zhang is a venerable elder of high prestige.
Elder Liu, please take the seat of honor.
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This old gentleman is respectfully addressed as Elder Wang by everyone.
noun
eunuch (archaic term, found in early vernacular literature)
archaicAn archaic term for a castrated palace servant, common in historical novels and early vernacular Chinese (白话).
In the novel "Water Margin", eunuchs are often addressed as "Lao Gonggong".
That eunuch opened his mouth and read aloud the imperial edict.