The word 老爹 is formed by directly combining two meaningful characters: 老, which here acts as an affectionate or familiar prefix often used with kinship terms, and 爹, which means "father". Their fusion creates a single, cohesive term that conveys a sense of an older, respected, and often rustic or regional paternal figure, blending the notion of age and familiarity with the core idea of fatherhood into a unified concept of endearment and informal respect.