TongTong
Sign in

道德 (dào dé) — (noun) morality; virtue; ethics; (adjective) moral; (often used in 不道德 'immoral')

Definition

道德 refers to shared standards of right and wrong behavior in a society. It is broader and more abstract than 品德 (a person's individual moral character) and more everyday than 伦理 (a formal system of ethics).

noun
moralityvirtueethics
adjective
moral(often used in 不道德 'immoral')
Measure word · 种

Examples

  • 道德。
    Měi gè rén dōu yīng gāi zūn shǒu shè huì dào dé.
    Everyone should abide by social morality.
  • ，。
    Wèi le yì diǎn xiǎo shì piàn rén, zhè zhǒng zuò fǎ hěn bú dào dé.
    Cheating over a small matter — this kind of behavior is very immoral.
  • 道德，。
    dào dé Hé fǎ lǜ bù tóng, tā gèng duō kào nèi xīn yuē shù.
    Morality differs from law; it relies more on internal restraint.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

道dàoprinciple
德dévirtue

道 (principle) and 德 (virtue) combine to refer to moral standards and virtue.

Characters in this word

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 →

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
彳彳chìroad
Sound part声符shēngfú
惪
惪dé德dé
Same sound today

德 combines 彳, a road, with 惪, a component meaning virtue that also supplies the sound.

Open 德 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 5Abstract Concepts3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.