Definition of: Taoism

(dou′iz·əm, tou′-) noun
One of the principal religions or philosophies of China, founded about 500 B.C. by Lâo-tse, who taught that happiness could be acquired through obedience to the requirements of man's nature and the simplification of social and political relations, in accordance with the Tao, or Way, the basic principle of the cosmos from which all of nature proceeds. [<Chinese tao way, road]
—Tao·ist adjective & noun
—Tao·is′tic adjective