祷 (dǎo): to pray

Meanings

1 to pray
2 to supplicate
3 to entreat (in a religious context)

Characters

祷

dǎo

to pray / to beseech

Examples

她每晚临睡前都要祷告一番。

Tā měiwǎn lín shuì qián dōu yào dǎogào yīfān.

She says her prayers every night before going to sleep.

信徒们跪下祷，祈求平安。

Xìntú men guìxià dǎo, qíqiú píng'ān.

The believers knelt and prayed, seeking peace.

Tips

usage

祷 alone is classical or literary; in modern Chinese it almost always appears as 祷告 (dǎogào) meaning 'to pray / prayer'. As a standalone character it appears in formal religious contexts or in the compound 祈祷 (qídǎo).

Components

radical

礻 shì

altar; spirit; divine

Altar radical on the left, the indexing component and a contracted form of 示 (an altar with offerings on top). It marks 祷 as a religious act, addressed to spirits or ancestors, alongside 神 spirit, 祈 pray, 祝 invoke, 福 blessing. Wherever 礻 sits, expect the sacred.

phonetic

寿 shòu

long life; longevity

Right side 寿 shòu supplies the sound with a regular shift shòu → dǎo (an old retroflex-to-dental alternation). It also lends a fitting picture: prayers traditionally asked for long life, so 'altar + longevity' captures the most common ancient prayer perfectly. Phonetic family includes 涛 wave, 焘 cover.