laotong means A cultural practice in Hunan, China, that bonded two girls together as kindred sisters with a formal contract. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 89 out of 100.
Why “laotong” is a great word
LAOTONG — [Noun] A formal, contractual, and lifelong bond of sisterhood between two unrelated girls or women, historically practiced in parts of China such as Hunan province. Borrowed from Mandarin Chinese 老同 (lǎotóng), from 老 (lǎo, "old") + 同 (tóng, "same"). Unlike "sworn sisterhood," a general declaration of affinity, or "best friend," an informal companionship, a laotong was a culturally recognized pact with the gravity of a rite, sealed by contract and ritual. It was the deliberate cultivation of a mirror-self: two lives bound by written vows, their stories exchanged in the secret language of nüshu script on folded fans, their fates braided together through separation and distance—a chosen symmetry against the random dispersal of a woman's life, a quiet architecture built not on blood, but on a single, deliberate word.
Etymology
Borrowed from Mandarin 老同.
noun
- A cultural practice in Hunan, China, that bonded two girls together as kindred sisters with a formal contract.