Taoism
/ˈtaʊ̯.ɪzm̩/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
sometimes/ˈdaʊ̯.ɪzm̩/
Taoism proper noun: a Chinese mystical philosophy traditionally founded by Lao-tzu in the 6th century B.C.E. that teaches conformity to the tao by wu wei, naturalness, and simplicity, long closely intertwined with Chinese folk religion and influenced by Buddhism, with which it shares five precepts.

Proper noun
Taoism
- A Chinese mystical philosophy traditionally founded by Lao-tzu in the 6th century B.C.E. that teaches conformity to the tao by wu wei, naturalness, and simplicity, long closely intertwined with Chinese folk religion and influenced by Buddhism, with which it shares five precepts.
- The Chinese New Year holiday period, being disrupted this year by the outbreak of a viral illness, has evolved over more than 3,000 years to become the most important of China’s traditional festivals.
As celebrated in China and in many other places where its known as the Lunar New Year, it is...2020 January 23, David Crary, “Chinese New Year secular now but kept religious underpinning”, in AP News, archived from the original on 15 Jun 2022 - The philosophical Taoism of the “Tao Te Ching” seeks to remain connected to this “mother of the world,” the formless Tao (meaning “Way” or “Course”), that is seemingly the opposite of all we value, but is actually the source of all we value, as manure is to flowers, as the emptiness of a womb is to...2020 September 16, George Yancy, quoting Brook Ziporyn, “How to Die (Without Really Trying)”, in New York Times, archived from the original on 16 Sep 2020
- The Chinese New Year holiday period, being disrupted this year by the outbreak of a viral illness, has evolved over more than 3,000 years to become the most important of China’s traditional festivals.
- Traditional Chinese folk religion.
- Buddhism is the most followed religion in Singapore, with over 40 percent of the population declaring themselves believers, according to the latest census. Most of these practice a form of the religion that incorporates elements of Taoism and traditional Chinese faiths.2010 May 17, Edgar Su, “Lasers, iPods, for a Singapore funeral of a lifetime”, in Miral Fahmy, editor, Reuters, archived from the original on 15 Jun 2022, Lifestyle
Taoism meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
Taoism in Hindi
- Chinese philosophy founded by Lao-tzu
- ताओ धर्म tāo dharm
Taoism in Tamil
- Chinese philosophy founded by Lao-tzu
- தாவோயியம் tāvōyiyam
Taoism in Marathi
- Chinese philosophy founded by Lao-tzu
- ताओवाद tāovād, ताओ धर्म tāo dharma
Taoism in Urdu
- Taoism
- تاؤ مت tao mat
More languagesFewer languages
- Taoism in Arabic
- طَاوِيَّة ṭāwiyya
- Taoism in Malay
- Taoisme
- Taoism in Indonesian
- Taoisme
- Taoism in Thai
- ลัทธิเต๋า lát-tí-dtǎo
- Taoism in Vietnamese
- Đạo giáo, đạo Lão, đạo Hoàng Lão, Tiên Đạo
- Taoism in Myanmar
- တာအိုဘာသာ tauibhasa
Forms of Taoism
| alternative form | Daoism |
|---|---|
| alternative form | Tauism |
| alternative form | Taouism |
Origin of Taoism
From Tao + -ism.
Questions about Taoism
- What does Taoism mean?
- Taoism means a Chinese mystical philosophy traditionally founded by Lao-tzu in the 6th century B.C.E. that teaches conformity to the tao by wu wei, naturalness, and simplicity, long closely intertwined with Chinese folk religion and influenced by Buddhism, with which it shares five precepts.
- What is Taoism in Hindi?
- Taoism in Hindi is ताओ धर्म (tāo dharm). See Taoism meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is Taoism?
- Taoism is a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce Taoism?
- Taoism is pronounced /ˈtaʊ̯.ɪzm̩/.
Words near Taoism in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Taoism (page history and authors); تاؤ مت (Urdu) (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)-Sumxr-Taoism.wav.
Cite this entry: “Taoism.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/taoism. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
