Tao Definition & Meaning

American

British

Etymology

Examples

Tao 1 American [tou] / taʊ /

noun

1. Yami.

Tao 2 American [dou, tou] / daʊ, taʊ /

noun

(sometimes lowercase)

1. (in philosophical Taoism) that in virtue of which all things happen or exist.

2. the rational basis of human activity or conduct.

3. a universal, regarded as an ideal attained to a greater or lesser degree by those embodying it.

Tao British / taʊ /

noun

1. that in virtue of which all things happen or exist

2. the rational basis of human conduct

3. the course of life and its relation to eternal truth

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Tao1

From Tao: literally, “human being”

Origin of Tao1

First recorded in 1730–40; from Chinese (Wade-Giles) Tao4, (pinyin) dào literally, “path, way, right way”

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Tao Tao climbs a tree in the training enclosure.

From Literature

In the first two seasons, Usagi had been grappling with the death of her mountain climber father, and actress Tao Tsuchiya feels that underlying pain could be a point of a connection.

From Salon

But businesswoman Tao Baker, who has submitted plans to transfer the centre over to community ownership, believes a sale would be "short-sighted".

From BBC

When Thomas Tao was a student in New York in the 2010s, he says he rarely came across Chinese fine-dining, but Americans were very willing to pay for, say, Japanese sashimi.

From BBC

But Tao said that he was more distressed by the freezing of a $25-million grant for UCLA’s Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.