tao
/daʊ/ noun, proper noun
- noun (by extension) The art or skill of doing something in harmony with the essential nature of the thing. “the tao of sex... the tao of the heart... the tao of integuments...”
- noun (historical, obsolete) Synonym of circuit: various administrative divisions of imperial and early Republican China.
- proper noun (Chinese philosophy) In Taoism, The Way, specifically the transcendental basis of nature and, and/or the ideal way to live one's life.
- proper noun A unisex given name from Mandarin.
- proper noun A surname from Mandarin.
- proper noun an Austronesian ethnic group native to Orchid Island (Lanyu) of Lanyu, Taitung County, Taiwan
- proper noun (historical) a historical region of Georgia (country)
Synonyms
Etymology
From the Wade–Giles romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 道 (tao⁴).
From the Wade–Giles romanization of Mandarin 道 (Dào, literally “The Way”): Tao⁴.
Borrowed from Mandarin 陶 (Táo).
Borrowed from Yami Tao (“the Tao/Yami language”), from Yami tao (“human; person”), from Proto-Philippine *tau, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tau, from Proto-Austronesian *Cau. Compare Ibatan tawo, Tagalog tao, Ilocano tao.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “tao”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details