Taxonomy of meanings for 盜:　　

  • 盜 dào (OC: daaws MC: dɑu) 徒到切 去 廣韻：【盜賊 】
    • STEAL
      • nabactoutrage, depredations, criminal acts; robbery; theft
      • vadNthief-like (thoughts); thievish; given to stealing
      • viactengage in thievery
      • vtoNsteal
      • vt[oN]inchoativestart stealing thingsCH
      • vt[oN]steel thingsDS
      • THIEF
        • n+NprtitleThief X 盜跖
        • nagentthief, common burglar; criminals
      • intensitive>ROB
          • exocentric>VILLAIN
            • nvillain; villains
            • nnonreferentialgenerally: the villainCH
            • nadNrobber's; villain'sDS
            • political>ENEMY
              • with deadly resultsMURDER
          • generalised>CHEAT
              • feature>VULGAR
                • fraudulently>AVOID
                  • by breaking a rule>OFFEND
                    • adverbially> SECRETLY
                      • exocentric>COPULATE
                          • violently>RAPE
                            • vtoNengage in illegitimate sexual intercourse with
                • dàoCRIME
                  • dàoMURDER
                    • v[adN](rarely:) common thief hired as murderer
                  • dàoSECRET
                    • vadVfurtively; in an unreglemented and irresponsible secretive way; secretly; unofficially (cf. modern 偷偷地）DS

                  Additional information about 盜

                  說文解字: 【盜】，私利物也。 〔小徐本無「也」。〕 从 㳄 㳄 欲皿者。 【徒到切】

                    Criteria
                  • THIEF

                    1. The standard word for a professional or at least specialised thief is dào 盜. Dà dào 大盜 is a notorious professional thief, jù dào 巨盜 is a professional large scale robber.

                    2. Zéi 賊 refers to a bandit or a villain who can be hired to commit crimes, and his villainy often consists in hired murder. It may or may not consist in robbery. See VILLAIN.

                    3. Qiè 竊 is occasionally used to refer to a petty thief.

                  • CRIME

                    1. The current general word for a serious legal transgression is zuì 罪 (ant. gōng 功 "merit"), and the current general word for a minor legal transgression is guò 過 (ant. xiào 效 "positive contribution").

                    2. Yóu 尤 refers generally to morally disreputable behaviour.

                    3. Jiù 咎 (ant. láo 勞 "obtain merits") refers to an action for which one deserves blame.

                    4. Dào 盜 (ant.* dé 德 "virtue") refers to morally and legally outrageous behaviour.

                    5. Yuè 越 can come to refer to a failure to keep within the boundaries set by one's social status or office.

                    6. Gū 辜 (ant. xún 勛 "significant contribution") is an archaising word referring to serious crimes at an early stage, but later commonly used (mostly in negated form) to refer to any crime.

                    7. Tè 忒, qiān 愆, and shěng 眚 refer to a minor but culpable error.

                    8. Qiān 愆 refers to a minor mistake in procedure.

                  • VILLAIN

                    1. The most general and comprehensive term for a villain is zéi 賊, and the basic association is with the damage he does. There is no special association with murder or thievery.

                    2. Kòu 寇 refers to thugs and robbers, particularly enemies of the state.

                    3. Dào 盜 refers to thieves or the more ordinary kind, and burglars, and the basic association is with the property he romoves. Note that Dào Zhí 盜跖 is something of a euphemism, since this gentleman was an arch-villain of great dimension.

                    4. Yì 役 is occasionally used for a scoundrel.

                  • STEAL

                    1. The current general word for any form of stealing is qiè 竊 and this word in no way suggests that the person who steals is in fact a professional or habitual thief.

                    2. Dào 盜 refers to a clandestine operation of stealing that may be on a fairly small scale, but typically by a person who specialises in stealing, a dào 盜 "thief".

                    3. Rǎng 攘 refers specifically to an act of taking another's property from a place other than his own home.

                    4. Tōu 偷 refers to stealthy and illicit enjoyment or sometimes misappropriation of something.

                    Word relations
                  • Assoc: (THIEF)寇/VILLAIN Kòu 寇 refers to thugs and robbers, particularly enemies of the state.
                  • Assoc: (THIEF)賊/THIEF Zéi 賊 refers to a bandit or a villain who can be hired to commit crimes, and his villainy often consists in hired murder. It may or may not consist in robbery. See VILLAIN.
                  • Assoc: (THIEF)賊/VILLAIN The most general and comprehensive term for a villain is zéi 賊, and the basic association is with the damage he does. There is no special association with murder or thievery
                  • Assoc: (STEAL)竊/STEAL The current general word for any form of stealing is qiè 竊 and this word in no way suggests that the person who steals is in fact a professional or habitual thief.