tao

See also: Tao, tāo, táo, tǎo, tào, tão, tạo, and TAO

English

Alternative forms

• dao

Etymology

From the Wade–Giles romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 道 (tao⁴).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /daʊ/, /taʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aʊ

Proper noun

tao

1. (Chinese philosophy and religion) Alternative letter-case form of Tao: the way of nature or way to live one's life.
   • 2021, Olof G. Lidin, From Taoism to Einstein, page 196:

     The tao of Lao Tzu was a cosmic tao, inner and unwritten, a tao of Nature, while the tao of Confucius was moral and written.

Noun

tao (usually uncountable, plural taos)

1. (by extension) The art or skill of doing something in harmony with the essential nature of the thing.

   the tao of sex... the tao of the heart... the tao of integuments...

2. (historical, obsolete) Synonym of circuit: various administrative divisions of imperial and early Republican China.

Synonyms

• (harmonious skill) zen

See also

• ananke

Anagrams

• AOT, ATO, OTA, Ota, To'a, oat, toa

Bikol Central

Etymology 1

Unknown.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ta‧o
• IPA^(key): /taˈʔo/ [taˈʔo]

Verb

tào

1. to give

   Itao mo na sakuya an kuwarta.

   Just give me the money.

Derived terms

• itao
• magtao
• manao
• panao
• tawan

 

Etymology 2

From Proto-Philippine *tau, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tau, from Proto-Austronesian *Cau.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ta‧o
• IPA^(key): /ˈtaʔo/ [ˈta.ʔo]

Noun

táo

1. Alternative form of tawo

Butuanon

Etymology

From Proto-Philippine *tau, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tau, from Proto-Austronesian *Cau.

Noun

tao

1. person; human

Finnish

Etymology 1

From Chinese 道 (dào).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɑo/, [ˈt̪ɑ̝o̞]
• Rhymes: -ɑo
• Syllabification^(key): ta‧o

Noun

tao

1. tao

Declension

Inflection of tao (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
nominative		tao	—
genitive		taon	—
partitive		taoa	—
illative		taoon	—
		singular	plural
nominative		tao	—
accusative	nom.	tao	—
	gen.	taon
genitive		taon	—
partitive		taoa	—
inessive		taossa	—
elative		taosta	—
illative		taoon	—
adessive		taolla	—
ablative		taolta	—
allative		taolle	—
essive		taona	—
translative		taoksi	—
abessive		taotta	—
instructive		—	—
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of tao (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative taoni — accusative nom. taoni — gen. taoni genitive taoni — partitive taoani — inessive taossani — elative taostani — illative taooni — adessive taollani — ablative taoltani — allative taolleni — essive taonani — translative taokseni — abessive taottani — instructive — — comitative — — second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative taosi — accusative nom. taosi — gen. taosi genitive taosi — partitive taoasi — inessive taossasi — elative taostasi — illative taoosi — adessive taollasi — ablative taoltasi — allative taollesi — essive taonasi — translative taoksesi — abessive taottasi — instructive — — comitative — — first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative taomme — accusative nom. taomme — gen. taomme genitive taomme — partitive taoamme — inessive taossamme — elative taostamme — illative taoomme — adessive taollamme — ablative taoltamme — allative taollemme — essive taonamme — translative taoksemme — abessive taottamme — instructive — — comitative — — second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative taonne — accusative nom. taonne — gen. taonne genitive taonne — partitive taoanne — inessive taossanne — elative taostanne — illative taoonne — adessive taollanne — ablative taoltanne — allative taollenne — essive taonanne — translative taoksenne — abessive taottanne — instructive — — comitative — — third-person possessor singular plural nominative taonsa — accusative nom. taonsa — gen. taonsa genitive taonsa — partitive taoaan taoansa — inessive taossaan taossansa — elative taostaan taostansa — illative taoonsa — adessive taollaan taollansa — ablative taoltaan taoltansa — allative taolleen taollensa — essive taonaan taonansa — translative taokseen taoksensa — abessive taottaan taottansa — instructive — — comitative — —

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɑoˣ/, [ˈt̪ɑ̝o̞(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -ɑo
• Syllabification^(key): ta‧o

Verb

tao

1. inflection of takoa:
   1. indicative present connegative
   2. second-person singular imperative present/present connegative

Anagrams

• oat, ota

French

Noun

tao m (plural taos)

1. (philosophy) Tao

Further reading

• “tao”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Galo

Noun

tao

1. thorn, splinter

Hiligaynon

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *tau, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tau, Proto-Austronesian *Cau.

Noun

táo

1. man; person

Verb

táo

1. to be born

Etymology 2

Verb

táo

1. to look after or guard the house

Etymology 3

Verb

taó

1. (Hiniráya, Binukídnon) to give; to donate; to make a present of

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtɒoː]
• Hyphenation: tao
• Rhymes: -oː

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Mandarin 道 (dào, “way, path”).

Noun

tao

1. tao

Declension

Inflection of tao
	singular	plural
nominative	tao	taók
accusative	taót	taókat
dative	taónak	taóknak
instrumental	taóval	taókkal
causal-final	taóért	taókért
translative	taóvá	taókká
terminative	taóig	taókig
essive-formal	taoként	taókként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	taóban	taókban
superessive	taón	taókon
adessive	taónál	taóknál
illative	taóba	taókba
sublative	taóra	taókra
allative	taóhoz	taókhoz
elative	taóból	taókból
delative	taóról	taókról
ablative	taótól	taóktól
non-attributive possessive - singular	taóé	taóké
non-attributive possessive - plural	taóéi	taókéi

Possessive forms of tao
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	taóm	taóim
2nd person sing.	taód	taóid
3rd person sing.	taója	taói
1st person plural	taónk	taóink
2nd person plural	taótok	taóitok
3rd person plural	taójuk	taóik

Derived terms

• taoista
• taoizmus

Etymology 2

Abbreviation from the name of the act on társasági adó és osztalékadó (“corporate tax and dividend tax”).

Noun

tao

1. Acronym of társasági adó és osztalékadó.

Declension

Inflection of tao
	singular	plural
nominative	tao	taók
accusative	taót	taókat
dative	taónak	taóknak
instrumental	taóval	taókkal
causal-final	taóért	taókért
translative	taóvá	taókká
terminative	taóig	taókig
essive-formal	taoként	taókként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	taóban	taókban
superessive	taón	taókon
adessive	taónál	taóknál
illative	taóba	taókba
sublative	taóra	taókra
allative	taóhoz	taókhoz
elative	taóból	taókból
delative	taóról	taókról
ablative	taótól	taóktól
non-attributive possessive - singular	taóé	taóké
non-attributive possessive - plural	taóéi	taókéi

Possessive forms of tao
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	taóm	taóim
2nd person sing.	taód	taóid
3rd person sing.	taója	taói
1st person plural	taónk	taóink
2nd person plural	taótok	taóitok
3rd person plural	taójuk	taóik

Derived terms

• taózás
• taózik

Ilocano

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *tau, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tau, Proto-Austronesian *Cau.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtaʔo/, [ˈtaː.ʔo], [ˈtaː.ʔu]
• Hyphenation: ta‧o

Noun

tao (plural tattao)

1. human; human being; person; man
2. people
3. individual

Inflection

Possessive forms of tao

	Singular	Plural/Distributive
1st singular	taok	tattaok
2nd singular	taom	tattaom
3rd singular	taona	tattaona
1st dual	taota	tattaota
1st plural exclusive	taomi	tattaomi
1st plural inclusive	taotayo	tattaotayo
2nd plural	taoyo	tattaoyo
3rd plural	taoda	tattaoda

Derived terms

• agkatawan
• agmarmaratao
• agpakatao
• agpatao
• itao
• itatao
• katao
• katatao
• katatawan
• kinatao
• maitao
• matagtagitao
• matatao
• naintawan
• pagattao
• pannakaitao
• pangitawan
• sangatawan
• sangkatawan
• sinantatao
• tawan
• tumao

 

Related terms

• alintatao
• taotao

 

Pronoun

tao

1. Alternative form of datao: indefinite pronoun usually referring to the speaker

Italian

Alternative forms

• dao

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈta.o/
• Rhymes: -ao
• Hyphenation: tà‧o

Noun

tao m (invariable)

1. (philosophy) Tao

Derived terms

• taoismo
• taoista

Anagrams

• -ato

Japanese

Romanization

tao

1. Rōmaji transcription of たお

Malagasy

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taʀuq. Compare Indonesian taruh.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [to]

Noun

tao

1. act, action
2. preparation

Verb

tao

1. to do
2. to prepare, arm, take precautions

Related terms

	Focus (Voice)
Agent (Active)	man-form: manao
	mi-form: mitao
	om-form: --
Patient (Passive)	--
	alternate: --
	a-form: atao
	voa-form: voatao
	tafa-form: --
Goal (Relative)	an-form: anaovana
	i-form: itaovana

Mandarin

Romanization

tao (tao⁵／tao⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄊㄠ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 萄

Romanization

tao

1. Nonstandard spelling of tāo.
2. Nonstandard spelling of táo.
3. Nonstandard spelling of tǎo.
4. Nonstandard spelling of tào.

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.

Maori

Noun

tao

1. spear

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Mandarin 道.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈta.ɔ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɔ
• Syllabification: ta‧o

Noun

tao n (indeclinable)

1. (philosophy, Taoism) Tao (Chinese philosophical term)

   Synonym: dao

Related terms

adjective

• taoistyczny

 

nouns

• taoista
• taoistka
• taoizm

 

Further reading

• tao in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French tao or English tao.

Noun

tao n (uncountable)

1. tao

Declension

declension of tao (singular only)

	singular
n gender	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) tao	taoul
genitive/dative	(unui) tao	taoului
vocative	taoule

Samoan

Noun

tao

1. spear

Swahili

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Noun

tao (ma class, plural matao)

1. arch

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• tauo — obsolete, Spanish-based orthography
• tau — obsolete
• tawo — now dialectal, Marinduque, Rizal

Etymology

From earlier tawo, from Proto-Philippine *tau, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tau, from Proto-Austronesian *Cau. Cognate with Ilocano tao, Cebuano tawo, Thao caw, Tsou cou, and Motu tau.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog)
  • IPA^(key): /ˈtaʔo/ [ˈt̪aː.ʔo] (noun)
    • Rhymes: -aʔo
  • IPA^(key): /taˈʔo/ [t̪ɐˈʔo] (adjective)
    • Rhymes: -o
• Syllabification: ta‧o

Noun

tao (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜂ)

1. human; human being; person; man
2. (colloquial) people
3. faces of a coin
4. (games) heads (in heads or tails)

   Synonym: tihaya

   Antonyms: ibon, taob

5. (colloquial) husband
6. person left alone in a place as a guard or caretaker (when others are away)

   Synonyms: bantay, tanod

Derived terms

• ang taong gipit, sa patalim kumakapit
• baguntao
• bansing-tao
• daktao
• dalubtao
• dalubtauhan
• gawang-tao
• higtao
• kapwa-tao
• karamihang-tao
• karaniwang-tao
• karapatang pantao
• katao
• katauhan
• lampas-tao
• madlang-tao
• magdalang-tao
• magkatao
• magkatawang-tao
• magpakatao
• magpakitang-tao
• magpatao
• makatao
• malay-tao
• mamamatay-tao
• matao
• matauhan
• may-tao
• nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa
• pagdadalang-tao
• pagkatao
• pagpapakatao
• pagpapanauhan
• pagpapatao
• pagsasatao
• pagtao
• pagtatao
• pakitang-tao
• palatauhan
• panao
• panauhan
• panauhin
• patao
• sa pagkatao
• sangkatauhan
• tagatao
• tagataong-bahay
• tao po
• tao-tao
• tao-tauhan
• taong-bahay
• taong-bayan
• taong-grasa
• taong-gubat
• taong-gubat
• taong-putik
• tauhan
• tauhin
• tawiran ng tao
• tumao
• usang-tao
• wikang-tao

 

Related terms

• balintataw
• katawan
• Tausug
• Taywan

 

See also

• kara-krus

 

Adjective

taó (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜂ)

1. (obsolete) mortal; deadly; fatal

   Synonyms: nakamamatay, mortal, (archaic) palana

Derived terms

• tumao

Further reading

• “tao”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
• Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*Cau”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• (North Central Vietnam) tau
• (South Central Vietnam) ta
• (abbreviation) t

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *soː (“I; me”). Cognate with Thavung โซว.

There are 1st person single pronouns in Northern Austroasiatic branches with back vocalism and null-initial such as Mang ʔuː⁴, Khmu [Cuang] ʔoʔ, Riang [Sak] ʔoʔ¹, Pnar o. However, the only case of competing *s- vs. null-onset in Vietic is Proto-Vietic *suh ~ *ʔuh (“nest”), which gave rise to Vietnamese tổ and ổ respectively.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [taːw˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [taːw˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [taːw˧˧]

Pronoun

tao • (蚤, 騷)

1. (impolite, familiar, disrespectful or hostile) I/me

   Antonyms: mày, mi

Anagrams

• toa

Yami

Etymology

From Proto-Philippine *tau, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tau, from Proto-Austronesian *Cau. Compare Ibatan tawo, Tagalog tao, Ilocano tao.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ta‧o

Noun

tao

1. person; human

Descendants

• → English: Tao
• → Mandarin: 達悟／达悟 (Dáwù)

References

• Rau, Der-Hwa Victoria 何德華, Dong, Maa-Neu 董瑪女 (2018) 臺灣南島語言叢書(14):達悟語 - 語法概論 [Taiwan Austronesian Languages Series (14): Tao language - Introduction to Grammar]‎^[1], New Taipei City: 原住民族委員會, →ISBN, archived from the original on 4 November 2021, page 8
• Dong, Maa-Neu 董瑪女, Rau, Der-Hwa Victoria 何德華, Chang, Ann Hui-Huan 張惠環, editors (2012), 達悟語詞典 Yami (Tao) Dictionary‎^[2], Taipei: 國立臺灣大學出版中心 [National Taiwan University Press], →ISBN, page 238
• Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*Cau”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI