tao
Syllables: ta·o/daʊ/
tao is the alternative letter-case form of Tao.
Noun (1)
tao (usually uncountable, plural taos)
Proper noun (1) capitalized: Tao
Tao
- 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.2013, Al Gore, The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change, New York: Random House, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page xx
Noun (2) capitalized: Tao
Tao (countable and uncountable, plural Taos)
- Alternative form of tao (“art or skill in harmony with essential nature”).
Proper noun (2) capitalized: Tao
Tao
- A unisex given name from Mandarin.
Proper noun (3) capitalized: Tao
Tao
- 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.2015 July 24, Gareth Cook, “The Singular Mind of Terry Tao”, in The New York Times Magazine, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 Mar 2020
Proper noun (4) capitalized: Tao
IPA/ˈta.ʊ/
Tao
- an Austronesian ethnic group native to Orchid Island (Lanyu) of Lanyu, Taitung County, Taiwan
- Synonyms:
- Yami
Proper noun (5) capitalized: Tao
IPA/taʊ/
Tao
- a historical region of Georgia (country)
Noun (3) capitalized: TAO
TAO (uncountable)
- Initialism of thyroid-associated orbitopathy.
Synonyms of tao
Forms of tao
| Proper noun | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | dao |
| alternative Hanyu-Pinyin | Dao |
| alternative also | tao |
| Noun | |
| plural | taos |
| plural | Taos |
Origin of tao
From the Wade–Giles romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 道 (tao⁴).
From the Wade–Giles romanization of Mandarin 道 (Dào, literally “The Way”): Tao⁴.
Borrowed from Mandarin 陶 (Táo).
Words formed from tao
Phrases with tao
Words that rhyme with tao
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about tao
- What does tao mean?
- Tao means the art or skill of doing something in harmony with the essential nature of the thing.
- What is tao the alternative letter-case form of?
- Tao is the alternative letter-case form of Tao.
- What part of speech is tao?
- Tao can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce tao?
- Tao is pronounced /daʊ/.
- What is the plural of tao?
- The plural of tao is taos.
Words near tao in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: tao (page history and authors); Tao (page history and authors); TAO (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tao.wav.
Cite this entry: “tao.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tao. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.