要道 (yào dào) — thoroughfare; important road or route; key passage; crucial way (in abstract sense)

Definition

要道 (yàodào) means a key road or passage, used literally for an important thoroughfare and metaphorically for the essential route to a goal. The first meaning is concrete infrastructure; the second is abstract, e.g., the path to success.

noun
thoroughfareimportant road or routekey passagecrucial way (in abstract sense)
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 要道。
    Zhè tiáo yào dào lián jiē zhe liǎng gè zhǔ yào de chéng shì.
    This thoroughfare connects two major cities.
  • 要道。
    Tiě lù shì guó jiā de jīng jì yào dào.
    Railways are the economic arteries of the country.
  • 要道。
    Zhǎng wò zhī shi shì tōng wǎng chéng gōng de yào dào.
    Mastering knowledge is a key passage to success.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

要yàoimportant
道dàoroad

要 means important and 道 means road; 要道 is an important road or route.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

要 began as a drawing of a person with both hands pointing to the waist.

Open 要 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
行行xíngstreet
止止zhǐfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
𩠐
首shǒu道dào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

Open 道 →

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