道路 (dào lù) is a compound noun meaning 'road' or 'path'—a paved or unpaved way for travel by foot, vehicle, or bicycle. It combines two characters with overlapping meanings: 道 (dào) originally meant 'way', 'principle', or 'path', and carries philosophical weight in classical texts; 路 (lù) specifically denotes a physical route or thoroughfare. Together, they form a standard, neutral term for any public or private road in modern Chinese—used in signs, maps, news, and daily speech.

The word is broader than English 'road' in some contexts: it can refer to highways, rural lanes, mountain trails, or even metaphorical 'paths' (e.g., in phrases like 发展道路, 'path of development'). Unlike more formal terms like 公路 (gōnglù, 'highway') or informal ones like 小路 (xiǎo lù, 'small path'), 道路 is general-purpose and widely understood across regions and registers. It appears frequently in official language (e.g., traffic regulations) and everyday descriptions of urban or rural environments.