道具
どうぐ · dougu · JLPT N4 · noun
tool
🔧 道具 = way (道) + equipment (具): the gear for a way of doing things
道 is the way or path, as in judo and sado; 具 means equipment or implement. Originally a Buddhist term for the implements a monk needed to practise the Way, it broadened to mean any tool. Sound hook: dougu starts like do, and tools are what you do things with.
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.