车道
chē dào · HSK 7
driveway
🚗🛣️ 车道 = vehicle + way — the path cars follow
道 is the same dào as in Taoism, meaning the Way. Pair it with 车 (vehicle) and you get the way for vehicles: a traffic lane or driveway.
车 — pictograph of a chariot/cart
车 is a pictograph originally drawn as a top-down view of a chariot, showing the axle, wheels, and carriage box. The ancient form 車 clearly depicted two wheels connected by an axle. It still means vehicle, cart, or car today.
道 — 辶 (walk) + 首 (head)
Originally a compound of 辶 'walk/movement' and 首 'head', depicting a path one walks while looking ahead. The literal sense 'road, way' extended metaphorically to 'method, doctrine, the Way (Dao)'. This philosophical meaning became central in Daoist and Confucian thought.