How to Write 伯 (bó) — Meaning “Uncle (father's elder brother) or a senior person.”

Imagine a person (亻) with white hair (白) standing in front of you — that is your father's elder brother, your uncle. The white hair reminds you that 伯 refers to an older relative.

Write the left radical 亻 first: two strokes (left-falling and vertical). Then write 白: left-falling, horizontal, horizontal, vertical, horizontal. A common mistake is making the 白 part too narrow or forgetting that the top stroke of 白 is a left-falling, not a horizontal.

伯 has 白 on the right and means uncle. 仔 has 子 (child) on the right and means young or son. 仕 has 士 (scholar) on the right and means official. The right component changes the meaning completely, so check carefully when reading.

伯 is used to address or refer to your father's elder brother, as in 伯伯 or 伯父. It also appears in the ordering of brothers (伯仲叔季), where 伯 means the eldest. Using 伯 shows respect for seniority in family and social contexts.

Common words containing 伯 include: 伯伯 (bó bo) — Uncle (father's elder brother).; 大伯 (dà bó) — Uncle (father's elder brother); 伯父 (bó fù) — Uncle (father's elder brother)..