知道

Mandarin · pinyin zhī dào

Meanings

  1. to know; to become aware of
  2. also pr. zhīdao
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Characters in this entry

知
zhī · know, perceive, comprehend
道
dào · path, road, street; method, way
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–4 · zhi1 dao4

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zi1 dou3

Cantonese word readings for 知道. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

verb

  1. to know (something); to be aware of
  2. to understand

verb

  1. (literary, Taoism, Confucianism) to know the Way, or, the Tao; to understand the principles well

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack