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Tao

proper nounnounproper nounproper nounproper nounproper nounattested in dialogue

  • //daʊ//
  • //ˈta.ʊ//

In Taoism, The Way, specifically the transcendental basis of nature and, and/or the ideal way to live one's life.

proper noun

  1. 1

    In Taoism, The Way, specifically the transcendental basis of nature and, and/or the ideal way to live one's life.

    Nor is progress exclusively a Western invention. Many interpret the Tao of ancient China as a guide for those who wish to progress as they make their way forward in the world—though its conception of progress is very different from what emerged in the West.

Etymology

From the Wade–Giles romanization of Mandarin 道 (Dào, literally “The Way”): Tao⁴.

noun

  1. 1

    Variant of taoAlternative form of tao (“art or skill in harmony with essential nature”).

proper noun

  1. 1

    A unisex given name from Mandarin.

proper noun

  1. 1

    A surname from Mandarin.

    When mathematicians face a question they cannot answer, they sometimes devise a less stringent question, in the hope that solving it will provide insights. This is the path that Tao took in 2004, in collaboration with Ben Green of Oxford.

Etymology

Borrowed from Mandarin 陶 (Táo).

proper noun

  1. 1

    an Austronesian ethnic group native to Orchid Island (Lanyu) of Lanyu, Taitung County, Taiwan

Etymology

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.

proper noun

  1. 1

    historicala historical region of Georgia (country)

Etymology

Borrowed from Georgian ტაო (ṭao).

Forms

plural
Taos
The neighbouring pagesAlphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.

Lexical content from Wiktionary, under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source entry · Data version 2026-08-23

Rank among the words of the OpenSubtitles 2018 corpus — film and television subtitles, so spoken rather than written usage (CC BY-SA 3.0).