Is 「老い」 in the common lingo? How does it differ from お年寄り and 年配の方 ?


Here is the listing from jisho.org:

_お 老い common word jlpt n3 Noun 1. old age; old person; the old; the aged_

Does anyone have any usage cases for this word and/or any info on it's
commonality? This would also help to better understand this word, thanks!




In modern Japanese, 老い is a common word but it almost always refers to "aged
**state** " or "aging **process** " rather than "aged **person** ". You can
say 老いを感じる, 老いを迎える, 老いに打ち勝つ, 老いの波 (figurative expression), etc. In this sense,
I think jisho's definition is somewhat confusing.

But as an exception:

  * There are a few **rare** compounds where 老い works like an adjective meaning _old_. 老い木, 老い松, ...
  * There is a relatively common set expression [老いも若きも](https://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%E8%80%81%E3%81%84%E3%82%82%E8%8B%A5%E3%81%8D%E3%82%82), where 老い seems to work as a noun meaning _old people_. As far as I can recall, this is the only case where 老い refers to people.

Outside of the set expression 老いも若きも, you should use お年寄り, 老人, 年配の方 or such to
refer to old people.




In modern Japanese, 老い is a common word but it almost always refers to "aged
**state** " or "aging **process** " rather than "aged **person** ". You can
say 老いを感じる, 老いを迎える, 老いに打ち勝つ, 老いの波 (figurative expression), etc. In this sense,
I think jisho's definition is somewhat confusing.

But as an exception:

  * There are a few **rare** compounds where 老い works like an adjective meaning _old_. 老い木, 老い松, ...
  * There is a relatively common set expression [老いも若きも](https://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%E8%80%81%E3%81%84%E3%82%82%E8%8B%A5%E3%81%8D%E3%82%82), where 老い seems to work as a noun meaning _old people_. As far as I can recall, this is the only case where 老い refers to people.

Outside of the set expression 老いも若きも, you should use お年寄り, 老人, 年配の方 or such to
refer to old people.

