涛 (tāo): big wave

涛 (tāo) is a Chinese character meaning “big wave.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 寿 (phonetic). It ranks #2022 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 涛 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).

Spoken pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 氵 water10 strokesFrequency #2022氵 semantic 寿 phonetic

Definitions

big wave

Etymology & Origin

涛

pictophoneticwater

Decomposition: ⿰氵寿 (layout: left-right)

Components:氵semantic 寿phonetic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 涛 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
波涛noun	bō tāo	billows
浪涛noun	làng tāo	ocean wave
惊涛骇浪phrase	jīng tāo hài làng	perilous situation
惊涛	jīng tāo	raging waves
世涛	shì tāo	stout (beer) (loanword)
石涛	shí tāo	Shi Tao (1642-1707), Chinese landscape painter and poet
胡锦涛	hú jǐn tāo	Hu Jintao (1942-), General Secretary of the CCP 2002-2012, president of the PRC 2003-2013
波涛汹涌phrase	bō tāo xiōng yǒng	waves surging forth

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

涛 appears in 8 compound words: 0 as the first character, 75 as the last, and 25 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 涛 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

汹xiōng

0.616300 co-occurrences

锦jǐn

0.5221,689 co-occurrences

骇hài

0.514114 co-occurrences

姜jiāng

0.490239 co-occurrences

沧cāng

0.478230 co-occurrences

胡hú

0.4681,941 co-occurrences

涌yǒng

0.450328 co-occurrences

刘liú

0.4421,018 co-occurrences

澜lán

0.440128 co-occurrences

惊jīng

0.439284 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

惊涛骇浪jīngtāohàilàngHSK 7+

terrifying waves; stormy sea; perilous situation

phrase

Showing 1 of 2 idioms containing 涛.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

孩子们喜欢在清澈的涛边玩耍，捉小鱼小虾。

hái zǐ men xǐ huān zài qīng 澈 de tāo biān wán shuǎ , zhuō xiǎo yú xiǎo xiā .

Children love to play along the clear shoreline, catching little fish and shrimp.

NewtalkMar 2026

被郑丽文点名没资源选凌涛开呛:不相干事不需要回应

bèi zhèng lí wén diǎn míng méi zī yuán xuǎn líng tāo kāi qiàng : bù xiāng gān shì bù xū yāo huí yīng

After being singled out by Zheng Liwen for allegedly lacking resources, Ling Tao fired back: "It has nothing to do with me, so I don't need to respond."

三立新聞網Mar 2026

郑丽文点名也可以被处分凌涛:我很忙

zhèng lí wén diǎn míng yě kě yǐ bèi chǔ fēn líng tāo : wǒ hěn máng

Zheng Liwen: Even Calling Out Names Can Lead to Disciplinary Action; Ling Tao: I’m Very Busy

Nownews今日新聞Mar 2026

朱系杠上党中央!凌涛要郑丽文理解:不相干的事不需回应

zhū xì gàng shàng dǎng zhōng yāng ! líng tāo yāo zhèng lí wén lǐ jiě : bù xiāng gān de shì bù xū huí yīng

The Chu faction is clashing with the Party Central Committee! Ling Tao urges Zheng Liwen to understand: there’s no need to respond to matters that don’t concern us.

中時新聞網Mar 2026

王义川喊出“支持黄世杰” 凌涛看穿手法:以退为进!

wáng yì chuān hǎn chū zhī chí huáng shì jié líng tāo kàn chuān shǒu fǎ : yǐ tuì wéi jìn !

Wang Yichuan calls for "support for Huang Shijie"; Ling Tao sees through the tactic: a strategic retreat!

Hk01.comMar 2026

姜涛签唱会获粉丝派利是即场反应举动被激赞网...

jiāng tāo qiān chàng huì huò fěn sī pài lì shì jí chǎng fǎn yīng jǔ dòng bèi jī zàn wǎng . . .

Jiang Tao's signing event was praised by fans for sending red envelopes on the spot.

Tatoeba

谁知道胡锦涛的生日？

Shéizhīdào Hú Jǐntāo de shēngrì?

Who knows Hu Jintao's birthday?

Tatoeba

普京对胡锦涛说：“咱们必须帮吉尔吉斯斯坦”……不过那只是在我梦里的情形。

Pǔjīng duì Hú Jǐntāo shuō:"zánmen bìxū bāng Jí'ěrjísīsītǎn "…… bùguò nà zhǐshì zài wǒ mèng lǐ de qíngxing.

"We need to help Kyrgyzstan," said Putin to Hu Jintao... in my dream.

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 涛 (tāo) mean in Chinese?

涛 (tāo) primarily means "big wave." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2022 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 涛 and 些?

涛 (tāo) and 些 (xiē) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 涛 (big) vs 些 (small).

How many strokes does 涛 have?

涛 is written with 10 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.

What is the radical of 涛?

The radical associated with 涛 is 氵 (water). This radical appears in many characters related to water.

What are the components of 涛?

涛 is composed of: 氵 (semantic), 寿 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰氵寿 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 涛?

Common words with 涛 include: 波涛 (bō tāo, "billows"); 浪涛 (làng tāo, "ocean wave"); 惊涛骇浪 (jīng tāo hài làng, "perilous situation"); 惊涛 (jīng tāo, "raging waves"); 世涛 (shì tāo, "stout (beer) (loanword)"). There are over 8 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 涛 (tāo)?

Several characters share the pronunciation tāo: 讨 (to discuss), 逃 (to escape), 套 (to cover), 陶 (pottery), and 2 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 涛 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 涛 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 涛 with real-time feedback

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