同道 (tóng dào) — fellow member (of a party, group, etc.); same principle or thought

Definition

同道 refers to people who share the same goal, belief, or cause — 'fellow travelers' in an intellectual or ideological sense, not casual group membership. The 同- prefix signals 'same/aligned' rather than belonging to a formal organization.

noun
fellow member (of a party, group, etc.)same principle or thought

Examples

  • 同道，。
    Tā shì wǒ men de tóng dào, yì qǐ fèn dòu duō nián.
    He is our fellow member; we have struggled together for many years.
  • ，同道。
    Tā men suī rán lái zì bù tóng guó jiā, dàn dōu shì zhuī qiú hé píng de tóng dào.
    Although they come from different countries, they are all fellow seekers of peace.
  • 同道。
    Zhè běn shū jiǎng shù le xǔ duō tóng dào de gù shi.
    This book tells the stories of many like-minded people.

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.

同tóngsame
道dàoway

同道 joins 同 same and 道 way, so it originally denotes those sharing the same way; the sense of fellow members extends from that.

Characters in this word

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

同 originally drew a pipe. It is the old form of 筒.

Open 同 →

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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