歩道
ほどう · hodou · JLPT N3 · noun
walk
🚶 歩道 = walk (歩) + road (道): the road for walking
歩 (ho) means walk, as in 散歩 sanpo, a stroll. 道 (dō) means road or way, as in 柔道 jūdō, the gentle way. Together they mean the walking road: a sidewalk or footpath.
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.