dao C2+ Topic:Abstract Ideas US /daʊ/ UK /daʊ/ See IPA manual Homophones tao /daʊ/ Minimal pairs Sounds like thou /ð/ vs /d/ Meanings 1 noun the Tao; the guiding principle or path in Chinese philosophy He sought to live in harmony with the dao. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · the tao; the guiding... taowaypathprinciple Word family Derived forms daoismdaoist Related forms taotaoism Etymology AI details From Mandarin Chinese dào ('way, path, principle'), the central concept of Taoist philosophy; an alternative romanization of 'tao'. dào Chinese View etymology graph -> Topics Abstract Ideas External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # dao **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /daʊ/ **IPA (UK):** /daʊ/ ## Meanings 1. the Tao; the guiding principle or path in Chinese philosophy ## Examples - He sought to live in harmony with the dao. ## Synonyms - tao - way - path - principle ## Derived Forms - daoism - daoist ## Related Forms - tao - taoism ## Roots and Affixes - Root: dào ## Etymology From Mandarin Chinese dào ('way, path, principle'), the central concept of Taoist philosophy; an alternative romanization of 'tao'. ## AI Etymology Dao is from Mandarin Chinese dào ('way, path, principle'), the central concept of Taoist philosophy; an alternative romanization of 'tao'. The immediate etymological form is Chinese dào. In present use as a noun, it means "the Tao; the guiding principle or path in Chinese philosophy", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include tao and taoism; derived forms include daoism and daoist. The surrounding word family keeps the same base visible in daoism, daoist, tao, and taoism, showing how the headword belongs to a larger cluster rather than standing alone. ## Topics - Abstract Ideas markdown