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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

到

dào
to arrive at a destination; to reach a destination; to get to
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 1
  • radical 刀
  • 8 strokes

Etymology graph

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Origin

The character 到 is a phono-semantic compound. It consists of the semantic component 至, meaning "to arrive" or "to reach," and the phonetic component 刀. The Shuowen Jiezi glosses the character as 至, noting it follows the components 至 and 刀 for sound.

In usage, the character denotes arriving at a destination, going, or reaching. It can also mean to be thorough or meticulous. When placed after a verb, it serves as a complement to indicate the successful completion of an action or a continued state.

The character appears in Qin, seal, and regular scripts. It is a cognate of the Hokkien forms 到 and 夠.

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

「到」在字形結構上屬於形聲字。其語義部分來自「至」，意指抵達或到達；語音部分則由「刀」提供。在漢語中，這個字可以用來表示抵達目的地、前往某處，或者作為動詞補語，用來表示動作的成功完成或持續的狀態。此外，它也有周密的意思。

在語言演變的關係上，「到」與閩南語中的「到」以及「夠」互為同源詞。根據不同的辭典記載，其含義涵蓋了抵達、往去，以及在動詞後方表示動作結果的用法。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • meaningChinese至 “to reach; to arrive”
  • soundChinese刀 “knife; blade (Classifier: 把 m c g h j mb md w x; 張／张 c h; 叢／丛 mn; 支 mn mn-t)”

Related: Hokkien 到, Hokkien 夠

Words built on it: 得到, 看到, 受到, 倒, 感到, 想到, 到底, 提到, 直到, 等到, 回到, 遇到

Wiktionary etymology text

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *taːws): semantic 至 (“to arrive”) + phonetic 刀 (OC *taːw).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

character
  1. to arrive at a destination; to reach a destination; to get to
  2. to go to; to leave for
  3. used as a verbal complement to indicate the (successful) completion of an action
  4. used after a verb to indicate a continued action or state
  5. to reach
  6. to the extent that

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

到：至也。从至刀聲。

Xu Shen, c. 100 CE — the first analytical dictionary of Chinese characters.

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 至、抵達。 例：到站、到期、堅持到底
  2. 往、去。 例：晚上我到你家拜訪。
  3. 周密。 例：周到
  4. 放在動詞後面，表示動作的結果。 例：得到、回到、說到做到

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 到 was written 字形演變

  1. 到 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  2. 到 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  3. 到 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • 說文解字 Shuowen Jiezi (Xu Shen, c. 100 CE) — Public domain
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 到