About
The character 耄 is structurally composed of 老, meaning old, and 毛, meaning hair, visually conveying the concept of advanced age through the imagery of whitening hair. Etymologically, it originally specified individuals in their seventies or eighties in classical texts, often associated with the physical decline of old age. Over centuries, its standalone usage receded, and it now primarily functions within the compound 耄耋 to refer to octogenarians or nonagenarians, reflecting a narrowing of its semantic scope while its form remains unchanged.