道 dào

  1. dào noun way; road; path
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语
    Notes: 道 is the 69th most frequently used word in the 1985 Beijing Institute of Languages frequency wordlist. In this sense 道 means 道路 (ABC 'dào' 道 n, p. 172; Ho 2002, '道'; NCCED '道' n 1). For example, 风过去了，只剩下直的雨道 'The wind went away and all that was left was the rainy path.' (Lao She, 2003, p. 264) Middle Chinese: daoX. 道 is used in the same sense in literary Chinese (Kroll 2015 '道' 1). For example, 通九道 'made the roads communicable.' (Records of the Historian, Annals of Xia 史記‧夏本紀)
  2. dào noun principle; a moral; morality
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: 道 means 规律,道理, or 道德 in this sense (ABC 'dào' 道 bf 2, p. 172; GHC '道' 3; NCCED '道' 4)
  3. dào proper noun Tao; the Way
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Religion
    Notes: Used in a similar sence in both Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism a doctrinal concept of the fundamental truth and as cultivation of moral character (Yao 2000, p. 26; Kroll 2015 '道' 2a). For example, 率性之謂道 'an accordance with this nature is called The Path of duty.' (Classic of Rites, Doctrine of the Mean 禮記‧中庸, translation by Legge 1885)
  4. dào measure word measure word for long things
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Quantity
    Notes: Such as for rivers, rays of sun, etc (ABC 'dào' 道 m, p. 172; NCCED '道' mw 1) For example, 金光一道一道的射出 'golden rays of light radiating out one-by-one' (Lao She, 2003, p. 34)
  5. dào verb to say; to speak; to talk
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: (ABC 'dào' 道 v 1, p. 172; NCCED '道' v 1; Kroll 2015 '道' 6)
  6. dào verb to think
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: (ABC 'dào' 道 v 2, p. 172; NCCED '道' v 4; Kroll 2015 '道' 4)
  7. dào measure word times
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Quantity
    Notes: For orders, etc (NCCED '道' mw 3)
  8. dào noun circuit; a province
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: In this sense, 道 refers to an adminsistrative area in Tang dynasty times. This sense is still used in modern day Korea as a Hanja word (ABC 'dào' 道 bf 7, p. 172; NCCED '道' v 4; ; Kroll 2015 '道' 7).
  9. dào noun a course; a channel
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Geography
    Notes: As in a water course (ABC 'dào' 道 bf 1, p. 172; NCCED '道' n 2)
  10. dào noun a method; a way of doing something
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: 道 means 方法 in this sense (ABC 'dào' 道 bf 2, p. 172; NCCED '道' n 3; Kroll 2015 '道' 3; GHC '道' 2).
  11. dào measure word measure word for doors and walls
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Quantity
    Notes: (NCCED '道' mw 2)
  12. dào measure word measure word for courses of a meal
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Quantity
    Notes: (NCCED '道' mw 3)
  13. dào measure word a centimeter
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Quantity
    Notes: Informal (NCCED '道' mw 4)
  14. dào noun a doctrine
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: Informal (ABC 'dào' 道 bf 3, p. 172; Kroll 2015 '道' 5; NCCED '道' n 5)
  15. dào proper noun Taoism; Daoism
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Taoism
    Notes: (ABC 'dào' 道 bf 4, p. 172; NCCED '道' n 6)
  16. dào noun a skill
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: (NCCED '道' n 7; Kroll 2015 '道' 4)
  17. dào noun a sect
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: (NCCED '道' n 8)
  18. dào noun a line
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: (ABC 'dào' 道 bf 5, p. 172; NCCED '道' n 8)

Contained in

Also contained in

驰道 、 河北道 、 道光 、 冯道 、 武士道 、 尼干陀子外道 、 丝道 、 咸镜道 、 大爱道 、 道树 、 滴道区 、 十善业道 、 魔道

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Truncated for common words

Collocations