道
Meanings · dou3
- direction
- way
- road
- path Mandarin classifier: 条
- 股
- principle
- truth
- morality
- reason
- skill
- method
- Dao (of Daoism)
- to say
- to speak
- to talk
- classifier for long thin things (rivers, cracks etc), barriers (walls, doors etc), questions (in an exam etc), commands, courses in a meal, steps in a process
- province (of Korea or Japan)
- channel
- method
- doctrine
- teachings
Meanings · dou6
- direction
- way
- road
- path Mandarin classifier: 条
- 股
- principle
- truth
- morality
- reason
- skill
- method
- Dao (of Daoism)
- to say
- to speak
- to talk
- classifier for long thin things (rivers, cracks etc), barriers (walls, doors etc), questions (in an exam etc), commands, courses in a meal, steps in a process
- province (of Korea or Japan)
- channel
- method
- doctrine
- teachings
About these definitions
Source definition segments, in their original order. Characters a definition cites are shown without their Mandarin pinyin; classifier lists that CC-Canto copied from CC-CEDICT are marked Mandarin. The community dictionary is not independently verified by zimai.
Reading & tones
Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.
Tone difference from Unihan
- 道 is read dou3 here; Unihan’s citation reading is dou6. Same syllable, different tone across these source readings. CC-Canto also lists 道 dou3 as its own entry.
Computed by zimai: each syllable of the CC-Canto word reading is compared with Unihan 17.0.0 kCantonese for its character. The comparison does not say why a reading differs (a changed tone, 變音, a reading tied to one meaning, or a source variant).
Same syllable, six tones
Characters whose customary Unihan reading (kCantonese) is this syllable in each tone, chosen as in the tone atlas (2013 standard level, then the number of CC-CEDICT words they form), with CC-Canto 2017's meaning for that reading; a dash means no catalogue character has that reading. Checked syllables (-p, -t, -k) normally carry tones 1, 3 and 6. Character readings, not word readings; no frequency implied.
Written characters
Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.
Mandarin comparison · separate source entries
CC-CEDICT, the Mandarin–English dictionary, lists the same written form:
- 道 dào CC-CEDICT · Mandarinroad; path (Classifier: 條 tiáo, 股 gǔ); (bound form) way; reason; principle; (bound form) a skill; an art; a specialization; (Daoism) the Way; the Dao; to say (introducing a direct quotation, as in a novel); (bound form) to express; to extend (polite words); classifier for long thin things (rivers, cracks, shadows etc), barriers (walls, doors etc), questions (in an exam etc), commands, courses in a meal, steps in a process; (old) circuit (administrative division)
A separate source entry, shown for comparison. The same characters can carry different senses in Mandarin and in Cantonese; zimai does not align these senses.
CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: dao4. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.
Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 20 senses · 2 Cantonese readings
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
dou3 · dou6
Cantonese word readings for 道. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
character
- a path or course along which something moves, flows or extends
- (historical) an administrative division called a dao
- (historical) an administrative division called a dao — a Korean province
- (historical) an administrative division called a dao — a Japanese prefectural-level division
- a way, method, means, skill or field of practice
- a principle, law, pattern or proper order; morality or good government
- (philosophy, Taoism) the Way; the Dao; the Tao
- a doctrine, teaching, school, sect or system of thought
- (Buddhism) a path of practice; Buddhist teaching, attainment or a realm of rebirth
- (Christianity) the Logos; the Word
- to say, speak, tell or relate, to express
- to think, suppose or take to be
- (suffix) forming nouns denoting a quality, flavour, manner or feel
- Classifier for long, narrow or streak-like things.
- Classifier for doors, gates, walls, barriers and similar structures.
- Classifier for courses in a meal: dish
- Classifier for questions, orders, proclamations and similar texts.
character
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese, literary) to lead, guide, direct or set on a course; now usually written 導 /导 (dǎo)
- (literary) from; via; by way of
- (literary, rare) to flatter; to curry favour
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack