漢字Kanji · in Action & Movement
道: road-way, street
Also: district, journey, course, moral, teachings
⻌ carries the meaning · 首 gives the sound
Three readings, and the words that use each
ドウdou · on'yomi · in compounds
- 道路どうろroad
- 道場どうじょうhall used for martial arts training
- 歩道ほどうsidewalk
- 水道すいどうwater supply
- 書道しょどうcalligraphy
- 地下道ちかどうunderground tunnel
- 報道するほうどうするreport
トウtou · on'yomi
- 神道しんとうShintoism
みちmichi · kun'yomi · on its own
- 道みちstreet
- 近道ちかみちshortcut
Also read いう, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
行 road + 首 head
First attested in early Western Zhou bronze inscriptions as a 行 (“road”) + 首 (“head”), later augmented with 又 (寸) or 止 in the middle and late periods. The 亍 on the right eventually disappeared, leading to the semantic components combining into 辵 in the seal script.
Source: Wiktionary, 道 (rev. 94167773), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Head/leader (首) + movement radical = the path where the leader points and where the feet follow; a way of life or a physical road.”
Connections
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · dào
Same form: 道 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 道 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 道 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin dào most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.