Zi:牛

From Wenlin Dictionaries

[niú] ox/cattle; ​牛 cow, ​牛 bull, 牛​ calf; 牛​ milk; ​/​牛 yak; 牛​ beef; (radical 93, 牛​); (HDZ:) … [niū] ​牛​

2 monosyllabic entries in The ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary (namespace Ci):

niú* {A} n.cow; ox; cattleSurnameb.f. 〈environment:〉 coll. talk big; boast; brag ►chuīniú 吹牛s.v. 〈environment:〉 slang arrogant
³niū char. ►shuǐniūr 水牛儿

725b.png
The character 牛 (4 strokes) is an abbrev. of old forms, replacing the old upper strokes ​ with the shape ​𠂉 as in ​/​, formerly wr. ​𠰛 (cf. ​, ​).
    The Shuōwén Seal form of 牛 niú ‘horned/humped-ox’ is said to depict the animal (​/​/​牛 fēngniú ‘zebu/humped-ox’), with three points above for the head and horns (​𠂉/​), with a horizontal line for the single ‘withers yoke’ (牛​) in front of the shoulder blades (​) and hump, and with the bottom of the vertical line for the tail (the legs/feet of the animal are not drawn, since they cannot be seen by the driver of the plow/oxcart).
    Note: In SW the shape of 牛 niú ‘horned/humped-ox’ is likened to that of ​(​𦍋) yáng ‘goat/sheep’, citing Confucius (cf. ​); 牛 is assoc. with ​牛 ‘(humped) zebu, southern yellow cattle’ (Bos taurus indicus; cf. ​, ​), and later also with ​牛 ‘(humpless) northern yellow cattle’ (Bos taurus taurus).
    Compare: ​/​ gù ‘ox's headboard/restraint’ (to prevent goring), formerly wr. ​(​𠰛), in which the horizontal line of 牛 is assoc. with the headboard (rather than the withers yoke).
    Note: The received SW entry for 牛 is emended to begin with a visual pun on ​(​𠭏) shì ‘do/deed/thing; ability’ (DYC), likening the strokes ​ of ​(​𡳿) at the top of ​ to those of 牛: strong as an ox, virile as a bull ox, able/powerful (​) doer of deeds (​), valuable property/thing (​).
    Note: ​/​ juéjiàng ‘obstinate/stubborn’ (stubborn as an ox).
    Note: For use of the character 牛 in the animal cycle (​), cf. ​ tiāngān-dìzhī.
    Note: The depiction of an ox head in this entry is reproduced from a ​ Shāng bronze vessel (Lindqvist).
    Note: The component 牛 becomes ​ on the left side (the last stroke ​ becomes ​).
    Compare: ​ bàn ‘half’; ​(​𠰛) gào ‘tell/report’.
    HDZ: 牛 : niú : (SW: ​, 牛​; ​, ​; ​, ​; DYC: ​, ​, ​, ​) (​) (牛​) (​/​); ​/​; (​宿) 牛​宿 (αβ Capricorni); (​) (​) ​牛​ (​, 牛​, ​α, Altair) ; (​) (cf. ​); (​) (​) 牛​: ​; (​)
►references: Guǎngyùn:205.21; Wieger:132a; Henshall:97; Karlgren:AD673,GSR998a; Hànyǔ Dà Zìdiǎn:3.1800.1; Lindqvist:131; Mathews:4737; Kāngxī Zìdiǎn:697.01; Bǐshùn Guīfàn:007.1.06; Wáng(1993):52; EDOC:1
►components:𠂉
►Cantonese: ngauh\
►stroke 牛 (... strokes)   
►list characters containing 牛 as a component
►list words containing 牛 (most common words first)
Unicode: U+725B
►web links for ‘牛’
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