盗

盜
dào
verb HSK 7-9 #6,388

Meanings

  1. 1 to steal
  2. 2 to rob
  3. 3 thief
  4. 4 bandit

Examples

HSK 5
Nà gè qiángdào qiǎngzǒu le lǚkè suǒyǒu de qián.
That bandit robbed all the travelers of their money.
HSK 6
Xiǎotōu zài dìtiě shàng dàoqiè le tā de qiánbāo.
A thief stole his wallet on the subway.
HSK 7-9
Tā yīn dàoqiè gōngsī cáiwù bèi kāichú le.
He was fired for stealing company property.

Tips

memory
皿 (a dish) sits at the bottom - picture someone drooling over and stealing the vessel of food on the table.

Components

radical
皿 mǐn
vessel; dish
Bottom indexing dish radical - a pictograph of a footed bowl. It names what is being coveted in 盗: a vessel of food or treasure. Same dish family: 盘, 盆, 盖.
semantic
次 cì
to drool; envy
Top 次 originally pictured a person with mouth open and saliva at the side. In 盗 it carries that 'mouth watering with greed' image: the would-be thief eyes the goods and salivates. Semantic, not phonetic - it gives no sound to dào.

Stroke Order

盗 dào