dōu

metropolis

Phonosemantic compound. ⻏ represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the meaning "large city, capital", which is the meaning when pronounced "dū". When pronounced "dōu", it has the unrelated meaning "all", etymologically related to (many).

Components
者 sound component

  Sound component

zhě

  

one who...

⻏ meaning component

  Meaning component

  

city

⻏ is a component form of .

Evolution

都 Bronze script Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)

Bronze script

Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)
都 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
都 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
都 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

 

dōu

metropolis, capital; all, the whole; elegant, refined; all; both; entirely; (used for emphasis) even; already; (not) at all

 

surname Du

 

capital city; metropolis

Most common words with 都
Freq.
Word
Meaning

all

都会

city

成都

Chengdu subprovincial city and capital of Sichuan province 四川 in southwest China

全都

all

首都

capital (city)

Component uses

Sound component in 1 character (0 verified)