道 (dào): road, way
道 (dào) is a Chinese character meaning “road, way.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 辶 (semantic) and 首 (phonetic). It ranks #52 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 道 walk. Its radical form 辶 (walk) appears in many related characters such as 边 (biān, side), 过 (guò, to pass, past), 还 (hái, still, return).
Definitions
- road, way
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 道 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 道
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 知道verb | zhī dào | to know | 1 |
| 难道adverb | nán dào | don't tell me ... | 4 |
| 道歉verb | dào qiàn | to apologize | 4 |
| 味道noun | wèi dao | flavor | 4 |
| 报道verb/noun | bào dào | to report (news) | 5 |
| 道理noun | dào li | reason | 5 |
| 频道noun | pín dào | frequency | 6 |
| 道德noun/adjective | dào dé | virtue | 6 |
| 道路noun | dào lù | road | 4 |
| 通道noun | tōng dào | (communications) channel | 6 |
| 街道noun | jiē dào | street | 4 |
| 打交道verb | dǎ jiāo dào | to come into contact with | 6 |
| 轨道noun | guǐ dào | track (for trains etc) | 6 |
| 管道noun | guǎn dào | tubing | 6 |
| 地道adjective | dì dào | tunnel | 6 |
| 跑道noun | pǎo dào | athletic track | 5 |
| 人行道noun | rén xíng dào | sidewalk | 6 |
| 渠道noun | qú dào | irrigation ditch | 6 |
| 一道adverb | yī dào | together | 6 |
| 楼道noun | lóu dào | corridor | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 大道noun | dà dào | main street |
| 胡说八道 | hú shuō bā dào | to talk rubbish |
| 隧道noun | suì dào | tunnel |
| 道别verb | dào bié | to say goodbye |
| 阴道noun | yīn dào | vagina |
| 道具noun | dào jù | (theater) prop |
| 下水道 | xià shuǐ dào | underground drain |
| 道奇 | dào qí | Dodge, US automobile brand, division of Chrysler LLC |
| 车道noun | chē dào | traffic lane |
| 修道院noun | xiū dào yuàn | monastery |
| 公道noun | gōng dào | justice |
| 弹道noun | dàn dào | trajectory (of a projectile) |
| 绕道verb | rào dào | to go by a roundabout route |
道 appears in 124 compound words: 21 as the first character, 69 as the last, and 10 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 道 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (62)
to be contented with living in poverty and take delight in abiding by moral principles
to run in opposite directions; to run counter to; to be inconsistent with
to return home in a ceremonial procession (usually used in the imperative).; to return home.
synonym of 路不拾遺 /路不拾遗 (lùbùshíyí, “no one pockets lost property on the road”)
to run in opposite directions; to run counter to; to be inconsistent with
Showing 12 of 62 idioms containing 道.
Example Sentences
道理很简单，但做起来却很难。
Dàolǐ hěn jiǎndān, dàn zuò qǐlái què hěn nán.
The principle is simple, but it's hard to put into practice.
...日报A1:新春8日 300万港人外游 市道更愁
. . . rì bào A 1 : xīn chūn 8 rì 3 0 0 wàn gǎng rén wài yóu shì dào gēng chóu
... Daily A1: On the 8th of the Lunar New Year, 3 million Hong Kong people traveled abroad, and the market was even more troubled
台股金蛇年这7档规模翻倍增 吸金力道猛
tái gǔ jīn shé nián zhè 7 dàng guī mó fān bèi zēng xī jīn lì dào měng
The scale of these 7 gears in the Year of the Golden Snake of Taiwan stocks has doubled, and the gold absorption is fierce
茶百道新春送暖发起“致敬城市守夜人计划”
chá bǎi dào xīn chūn sòng nuǎn fā qǐ zhì jìng chéng shì shǒu yè rén jì huá
Chabadao Launches "Tribute to the City's Nightwatchmen Program" in Chinese New Year
中国短道最靓的一个第五名——米兰冬奥会山东选手公...
zhōng guó duǎn dào zuì 靓 de yī gě dì wǔ míng mǐ lán dōng ào huì shān dōng xuǎn shǒu gōng . . .
China's Most Impressive Fifth Place in Short Track Speed Skating: Shandong Athlete Gong at the Milan Winter Olympics...
您知道这个词的意思吗？
Nín zhīdào zhège cí de yìsi ma?
Do you know the meaning of this word?
你知道这家旅馆吗？
Nǐ zhīdào zhè jiā lǚguǎn ma?
Do you know that hotel?
我为什么一定要知道呢？
Wǒ wèishénme yīdìng yào zhīdào ne?
Why must I know about it?
他还没有来，不知道是不是发生了什么意外？
Tā hái méiyǒu lái, bù zhīdào shìbùshì fāshēng le shénme yìwài?
He has not come yet. Something may have happened to him.
你知道她会说英语吗？
Nǐ zhīdào tā huì shuō Yīngyǔ ma?
Do you know if she can speak English?
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 辶 (walk) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 道 (dào) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 道 have?
What is the radical of 道?
What are the components of 道?
What are common words containing 道?
What characters sound the same as 道 (dào)?
Is 道 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 道 with real-time feedback
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