陀 (tuó): (phonetic character)

Meanings

1 (phonetic character)
2 steep bank
3 declivity

Characters

陀

tuó

phonetic; steep bank

Examples

陀螺转得很快。

Tuóluó zhuàn de hěnkuài.

The spinning top spins very fast.

阿弥陀佛是佛教用语。

Āmítuófó shì Fójiào yòngyǔ.

Amitabha is a Buddhist expression.

Tips

usage

陀 is primarily used as a phonetic component in compound words like 陀螺 (tuóluó, spinning top) and Buddhist terms like 阿弥陀佛 (Āmítuófó, Amitabha Buddha).

Components

radical

阝 fù

mound; hill (left-side form of 阜)

Left mound radical — the side-form of 阜, depicting a stepped hillside. The indexing radical, marking 陀 as terrain-related (originally 'slope, uneven mountain ground'). The left-阝 family includes 阵 (formation), 险 (steep), 阳 (sunny slope) — all hill-and-rampart vocabulary. Distinct from the right-阝 'city' radical.

phonetic

它 tā

it (here phonetic)

Right 它 supplies the sound — tā shifting to tuó through historical drift. 它 originally pictured a snake (now written 蛇). Same phonetic core links 陀 with 驼 (camel), 沱 (tears flowing), 砣 (counterweight) — all sharing the tuó reading. Often appears in transliterations like 弥勒陀.