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大道 (dà dào) — (noun) wide road, main avenue; (noun) the Great Way (the fundamental principle in Daoism, also used philosophically)

Definition

Literally 'great road', 大道 has two distinct senses: a literal main avenue, and the philosophical Daoist 'Great Way' (the source and principle of all things). The two meanings are unrelated — context (street vs Daoism) tells them apart.

noun
wide roadmain avenuethe Great Way (the fundamental principle in Daoism, also used philosophically)
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 大道。
    Zhè tiáo dà dào tōng wǎng shì zhōng xīn.
    This wide road leads to the city center.
  • 大道。
    Dào jiā rèn wéi dà dào shì wàn wù de gēn yuán.
    Daoists believe the Great Way is the source of all things.
  • 大道，。
    dà dào Zhì jiǎn, zhè ge dào lǐ hěn jiǎn dān.
    The greatest truths are the simplest; this principle is very simple.

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.

大dàwide
道dàoroad

大 'wide' before 道 'road' gives a broad road, also the Great Way.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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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