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

HSK 6

信徒们跪下祷，祈求平安。

Xìntú men guìxià dǎo, qíqiú píng'ān.

The believers knelt and prayed, seeking peace.

HSK 7-9

她每晚临睡前都要祷告一番。

Tā měiwǎn lín shuì qián dōu yào dǎogào yìfān.

She says her prayers every night before going to sleep.

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 to 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.