Editing Tao (section)

===Other languages===
Many languages have borrowed and adapted "Tao" as a [[loanword]].

In [[Chinese language|Chinese]], this character {{lang|zh|道}} is pronounced as [[Cantonese]] ''dou6'' and Hokkian ''to7''. In [[Sino-Xenic]] languages, {{lang|zh|道}} is pronounced as [[Japanese language|Japanese]] ''dō'', ''tō'', or ''michi''; [[Korean language|Korean]] ''do'' or ''to''; and [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] ''đạo''.

Since 1982, when the [[International Organization for Standardization]] adopted [[Pinyin]] as the standard [[romanization of Chinese]], many Western languages have changed from spelling this loanword ''tao'' in national systems (e.g., French [[EFEO Chinese transcription]] and English [[Wade–Giles]]) to ''dao'' in Pinyin.

The ''tao''/''dao'' "the way" [[List of English words of Chinese origin|English word of Chinese origin]] has three meanings, according to the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''.
<blockquote>'''1. a.''' In Taoism, an absolute entity which is the source of the universe; the way in which this absolute entity functions.<br />
'''1. b.''' = ''Taoism'', ''taoist''<br />
'''2.''' In Confucianism and in extended uses, the way to be followed, the right conduct; doctrine or method.</blockquote>
The earliest recorded usages were ''Tao'' (1736), ''Tau'' (1747), ''Taou'' (1831), and ''Dao'' (1971).

The term "[[Taoist priest]]" ({{zhi|c=道士|p=Dàoshì}}), was used already by the Jesuits [[Matteo Ricci]] and [[Nicolas Trigault]] in their ''[[De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas]]'', rendered as ''Tausu'' in the original Latin edition (1615),{{NoteTag|text=''[https://books.google.com/books?id=iLsWAAAAQAAJ De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas suscepta ab Societate Jesu]'', Book One, Chapter 10, p. 125. Quote: "sectarii quidam ''Tausu'' vocant". Chinese gloss in [[Pasquale M. d' Elia]], Matteo Ricci. ''Fonti ricciane: documenti originali concernenti Matteo Ricci e la storia delle prime relazioni tra l'Europa e la Cina (1579-1615)'', Libreria dello Stato, 1942; can be found [https://books.google.com/books?id=zRw8AAAAMAAJ&q=tausu by searching for "tausu"]. [[Louis J. Gallagher]] (''China in the Sixteenth Century: The Journals of Matteo Ricci''; 1953), apparently has a typo (''Taufu'' instead of ''Tausu'') in the ''text'' of his translation of this line (p. 102), and ''Tausi'' in the index (p. 615)}} and ''Tausa'' in an early English translation published by [[Samuel Purchas]] (1625).{{NoteTag|text=''A discourse of the Kingdome of China, taken out of Ricius and Trigautius, containing the countrey, people, government, religion, rites, sects, characters, studies, arts, acts ; and a Map of China added, drawne out of one there made with Annotations for the understanding thereof'' (excerpts from ''[[De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas]]'', in English translation) in ''[[Samuel Purchas|Purchas his Pilgrimes]]'', Volume XII, p. 461 (1625).  Quote: "... Lauzu ... left no Bookes of his Opinion, nor seemes to have intended any new Sect, but certaine Sectaries, called Tausa, made him the head of their sect after his death..." Can be found in the [https://archive.org/stream/hakluytusposthu14purcgoog/hakluytusposthu14purcgoog_djvu.txt full text of "Hakluytus posthumus"] on archive.org.}}