Tao

¹

[ dou, tou ]

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

²

[ tou ]

noun

1. Yami ( def ).

Tao

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Tao¹

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

Origin of Tao²

From Tao: literally, “human being”

Word History and Origins

Origin of Tao¹

Chinese, literally: path, way

Example Sentences

The researcher demanded Tao pay her $310,000 for her contribution, said Tao’s attorney, Peter Zeidenberg, a partner at Arent Fox.

From Washington Post

Tao is asking the court to throw out evidence obtained with the warrants.

From Washington Post

While this could drive their price down further, it would also cut into the economic case for recycling, Tao says.

From MIT Technology Review

When Tao published a review paper on solar-panel recycling in June 2020, he calculated that the value of raw materials that could be extracted from a used panel would be around $10.

From MIT Technology Review

Filaseta and Southwick used a sieve argument, similar to the approach Tao took in 2011, to show that if you take prime numbers in the aforementioned bucket and decrease one of the digits, a positive proportion of those primes will become composite.

From Quanta Magazine

More than bawdy, though, The Ball adds a familiar unpretentiousness to trendy locales like Tao, Lavo, The Park, and Dream Hotel.

From The Daily Beast

They worked in a unit called Tailored Access Operations, or TAO.

From The Daily Beast

We went to Professor Tao and asked for freer access, which was granted.

From The Daily Beast

Professor Tao agreed to open his doors for us to film at his center.

From The Daily Beast

One is on African primal religions, another on the tao of T'ai Chi Ch'uan, another on the path to total rejuvenation.

From The Daily Beast

He was the founder of Tao-tze, a kind of rationalism, which at present has millions of adherents in China.

From Project Gutenberg

But there was no danger to the Light Country from Tao, he thought with satisfaction.

From Project Gutenberg

Tao would await the results of his emissaries' work, of course.

From Project Gutenberg

Under no circumstances must they be allowed to reach Tao and tell him what had occurred.

From Project Gutenberg

That this was Tao's stronghold, and not the Lone City, now became evident.

From Project Gutenberg