# dao
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /daʊ/
* Rhymes: -aʊ

### Etymology 1

From Chinese 刀 (dāo, literally “single-edged blade”). Possibly a doublet of dah.

#### Noun

dao (plural daos)
* Any of various traditional Chinese swords with a curved, single-edged blade, primarily used for slashing and chopping.

### Etymology 2

From the pinyin romanization of Chinese 道 (Dào, literally “the Way”) or (dào, "circuit").

#### Proper noun

dao
* (Chinese philosophy) Alternative form of Tao: the way of nature and/or the ideal way to live one's life.

#### Noun

dao (usually uncountable, plural daos)
* (historical) Synonym of circuit: various administrative divisions of imperial and early Republican China.

### Etymology 3
#### Noun

dao (plural daos)
* Alternative form of dah (“Burmese knife or sword”)

### Etymology 4

Likely related to one of the preceding words ("Chinese sword", "Burmese knife").

#### Noun

dao (plural daos)
* A sword and construction tool of the Naga people of India, which has a wooden hilt and grows wider from the narrow hilt to the wide, flat tip.

### Etymology 5

From Tagalog or Cebuano dao.

#### Noun

dao (plural daos)
* Dracontomelon dao; a large tree of the family Anacardiaceae; the argus pheasant tree.
* The hard strong wood of the dao used for veneers and cabinetwork.

### Anagrams

* ADO, AOD, DOA, ODA, Oda, ado, oad, oda

## Aromanian
### Alternative forms

* dau, dauã, doauã

### Etymology

Feminine form of doi. From Latin duae, nominative feminine of duo.

### Numeral

dao f (masculine doi)
* two

## Cebuano
### Pronunciation

* Hyphenation: da‧o

### Noun

dao
* dao (Dracontomelon dao)
* the edible fruit of this tree
* the wood from this tree

## Limburgish
### Alternative forms

* da, do (Eupen)
* dooe (Krefeld)

### Etymology 1
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [dɔː˨]
* Hyphenation: dao
* Rhymes: -ɔː

#### Adverb

dao
* there

##### Synonyms

* der

### Etymology 2
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [dɔː˦]
* Hyphenation: dao
* Rhymes: -ɔː

#### Adverb

dao
* for that reason

## Mandarin
### Romanization

dao
* Nonstandard spelling of dāo.
* Nonstandard spelling of dáo.
* Nonstandard spelling of dǎo.
* Nonstandard spelling of dào.

#### Usage notes

* Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

## Tagalog
### Alternative forms

* dauo — obsolete, Spanish-based spelling
* dawo — obsolete

### Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *daqu (“a tree: Dracontomelum edule”). Compare Cebuano dao, Kapampangan dau, and Indonesian dahu.

### Pronunciation

* (Standard Tagalog) IPA: /daˈʔo/ [d̪ɐˈʔo]
* Rhymes: -o
* Syllabification: da‧o

### Noun

daó (Baybayin spelling ᜇᜂ)
* dao tree (Dracontomelon dao)
* wood from the dao tree

#### Related terms

* Dau

### Further reading

* “dao”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2024
* “dao”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
* Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*daqu₁”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI

### Anagrams

* oda, -ado

## Toba Batak
### Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *zauq.

### Adjective

dao
* far

### References

* Warneck, J. (1906). Tobabataksch-Deutsches Wörterbuch. Batavia: Landesdrukkerij, p. 45.

## Toraja-Sa'dan
### Adverb

dao
* above

## Vietnamese
### Alternative forms

* (North Central Vietnam) đao (no lenition)

### Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *-taːw, from Old Chinese 刀 (OC *C.tˤaw) (B-S) (SV: đao). Compare North Central Vietnamese đao (“knife”).
This word was borrowed at a stage when the Sinitic word still retained the preinitial, thus causing lenition: *-t- > Middle Vietnamese dĕao [ðj-] > modern [z- ~ j-]. The Sino-Vietnamese reading đao, on the other hand, derived from Middle Chinese 刀 (MC taw) when the onset already simplified and resulted in a stop. The North Central đao, although formally identical to the more recent Sino-Vietnamese reading, belongs to the same stratum as dao, as indicated by the meaning "knife", due to the fact that these dialects did not undergo lenition to as large an extent.

### Pronunciation

* (Hà Nội) IPA: [zaːw˧˧]
* (Huế) IPA: [jaːw˧˧]
* (Saigon) IPA: [jaːw˧˧]
* Homophone: Dao; giao

### Noun

(classifier cái, chiếc, con) dao • (刀, 釖, 鉸)
* knife
    dao bếp ― kitchen knife

#### See also

* dao bấm
* dao bầu
* dao cạo
* dao găm
* dao kéo
* dao lam
* dao phay
* dao rọc giấy
* dao rựa