道

Translingual

Stroke order

Phonosemantic interpretation

Old Chinese Initial /*t-/ lends semantic value Straight. Vowel /*-o-/ lends semantic value Curvature or Curve and surround/envelop. Phono-semantic indicator 首 (run through) + semantic indicator 辵 movement → path, road or street running through a settlement. Source: Howell & Morimoto

Etymology

Phono-semantic compound (形聲): semantic 辶 (“walking”) + phonetic 𩠐. Simplified to ⻌ + 首.

Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Large seal script	Small seal script

Han character

道 (radical 162 辵+9, 12 strokes, cangjie input 卜廿竹山 (YTHU), four-corner 3830₆, composition ⿺辶首)

1. path, road, street
2. method, way
3. say

Derived characters

• 導

References

• KangXi: page 1262, character 6
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 39010
• Dae Jaweon: page 1754, character 9
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 6, page 3864, character 1
• Unihan data for U+9053

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Cantonese

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tou˨/

Hanzi

道 (jyutping dou6, Yale dou6)

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Japanese

Kanji

道 (grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• On: どう (dō), とう (tō)
• Kun: みち (michi), いう (iu), みちびく (michibiku)

Noun

道 (hiragana みち, romaji michi)

1. a way; a street; a road; an alley; a pass for local traffic
2. a way of doing something

Noun

道 (hiragana どう, romaji dō)

1. The Way: tao; Taoism
2. (chiefly historical) A region of Japan consisting of multiple provinces or prefectures. Feudal Japan was divided into several dō; the only remaining dō is Hokkaidō.

Compounds

• 合気道 (あいきどう, aikidō): aikido
• 道具 (どうぐ, dōgu): tool
• 道路 (どうろ, dōro): road
• 道徳 (どうとく, dōtoku): ethics
• 報道 (ほうどう, hōdō): broadcast
• 柔道 (じゅうどう, jūdō): judo
• 軌道 (きどう, kidō): orbit
• 赤道 (せきどう, sekidō): equator
• 食道 (しょくどう, shokudō): oesophagus
• 水道 (すいどう, suidō): water supply

• 鉄道 (てつどう, tetsudō): railway
• 道教 (どうきょう, dōkyō): Taoism
• 道理 (どうり, dōri): rational
• 道州制 (どうしゅうせい, dōshūsei): Wide-Area Administration　
• 書道 (しょどう, shodō): calligraphy
• 武道 (ぶどう, budō): budo
• 茶道 (さどう, sadō): tea ceremony
• 華道 (かどう, kadō): flower arrangement
• 花道 (かどう, kadō): flower arrangement

Proper noun

道 (hiragana とおる, romaji Tōru)

1. A male given name

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Korean

Hanja

道
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 도 (revised: do, McCune-Reischauer: to, Yale: to)

• Name (hangeul): 길()

Compounds

• 跆拳道 (태권도): taekwondo
• 傳道 (전도)
• 全道 (전도)
• 專用鐵道 (전용철도)
• 赤道 (적도)

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Mandarin

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Measure word

道 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin dào)

1. one; a (measure word for dish, proclamation or rainbow)

   一道菜

   a dish of food

   一道公文

   a proclamation

   一道彩虹

   a rainbow

Noun

道 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin Dào)

1. Word
   • John 1.1

     太初有道，道与神同在，道就是神。

     Taìchū yǒu Dào, Dào yǔ Shén tóngzaì, Dào jiùshì Shén.

     In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

   • 1John 1.1

     论到从起初原有的生命之道，就是我们所听见所看见，亲眼看过，亲手摸过的。

     Lùndào cóng qǐchū yuányǒu de shēngmìng zhī dào, jiù shì wǒmen suǒ tīngjiàn suǒ kànjiàn de, qīnyǎn kànguo, qīnshǒu mōguo de.

     That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

Hanzi

道 (pinyin dào (dao4), dǎo (dao3), Wade-Giles tao³, tao⁴)

1. way, path

Compounds

• 知道
• 道路
• 道德

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Min Nan

Hanzi

道 (POJ tō)

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Vietnamese

Han character

道 (đạo, dạo, nhạo)