道 (dào) · road, way, principle

Meanings

1 road
2 way
3 principle
4 measure word for questions, dishes, and long narrow things (rivers, walls, rays of light)

Characters

道

dào

road; way; principle; to say

Walking radical 辶 + 首 (head) - a head leading the way down a path, the Way (Dao)

Examples

HSK 3

我们好像走错道了。

Wǒmen hǎoxiàng zǒucuò dào le.

I think we took the wrong road.

HSK 3

这道题太难了。

Zhè dào tí tài nán le.

This question is too difficult.

HSK 5

他知道这个道理。

Tā zhīdào zhège dàolǐ.

He understands this principle.

Tips

history

道 (Dào) is the central concept of Daoism (道教) - 'the Way' - the fundamental principle underlying the universe, as described in the 道德经 by Laozi.

usage

Also a measure word for questions (一道题), courses of food (一道菜), and long thin things like rays (一道光).

Components

radical

辶 chuò

walk; movement (radical)

Wrapping walk radical (Kangxi #162 辵 in its 3-stroke compressed form). Pictures a foot stepping along a road. Anchors 道 in the family of motion-and-travel verbs: 进 (advance), 退 (retreat), 远 (far), 边 (side), 还 (return). With 首 leading the way, 道 is literally 'the path the head walks on.'

semantic

首 shǒu

head; chief

Inner 首 (head) - the leading element walking along the road. A classic compound: 'head' on a path = the way one is heading, the principle one follows. From this come both literal meanings (road, route) and abstract ones (the Way 道, doctrine, method). Provides a faint phonetic echo (shǒu → dào is irregular) plus the primary semantic anchor.