Tao

¹ 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.

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Tao ² American  

[tou] / taʊ /

noun

1. Yami.

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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

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Etymology

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”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Tao

For Gallo and his team of Aditya Aney, Tao Pan and William Koor, “both the AI and private credit universes face significant volatility.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

The award for actress was shared by Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, co-stars of Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “All of a Sudden,” a movie pegged by many to potentially go all the way.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026

Shortly after the crash, Zhu Tao, aviation safety office director at the CAA told reporters that they did not have a clear assessment of the cause for the crash.

From BBC ● May 5, 2026

“The Tao of Wu” looks forward to a shapeshifting future and calls for a defense of human creativity: “We must find and use a logic that’s not programmable.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

At this age, Tao Tao still can’t walk and remains completely dependent on his mother.

From "Camp Panda" by Catherine Thimmesh