牡 (mǔ): (of a bird, animal or plant) male, key, hills
牡 (mǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “(of a bird, animal or plant) male.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 牛 (semantic) and 土 (phonetic). It ranks #2746 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 牡 ox. Its radical form 牛 (cow) appears in many related characters such as 牛 (niú, ox), 物 (wù, (bound form) thing), 特 (tè, special).
Definitions
- (of a bird, animal or plant) male
- key
- hills
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 牡 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 牡蛎 | mǔ lì | oyster |
| 牡丹 | mǔ dan | tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa) |
| 牡丹虽好，终须绿叶扶持 | mǔ dan suī hǎo , zhōng xū lǜ yè fú chí | Although the peony is beautiful, it depends entirely on help from the green leaves (idiom). However brilliant you may... |
| 牡丹虽好，全凭绿叶扶持 | mǔ dan suī hǎo , quán píng lǜ yè fú chí | Although the peony is beautiful, it depends entirely on help from the green leaves (idiom). However brilliant you may... |
| 牡丹虽好，全仗绿叶扶持 | mǔ dan suī hǎo , quán zhàng lǜ yè fú chí | Although the peony is beautiful, it depends entirely on help from the green leaves (idiom). However brilliant you may... |
| 牡丹虽好，全仗绿叶扶 | mǔ dan suī hǎo , quán zhàng lǜ yè fú | Although the peony is beautiful, it depends entirely on help from the green leaves (idiom). However brilliant you may... |
| 牡丹江市 | mǔ dān jiāng shì | Mudanjiang, prefecture-level city in Heilongjiang Province 黑龍江省|黑龙江省[Hei1 long2 jiang1 Sheng3] |
| 天竺牡丹 | tiān zhú mǔ dan | dahlia |
| 牡丹区 | mǔ dan qū | Mudan District of Heze City 菏澤市|菏泽市[He2 ze2 Shi4], Shandong |
| 牡丹卡 | mǔ dan kǎ | Peony Card (credit card issued by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China) |
| 牡丹皮 | mǔ dan pí | root bark of the peony tree (used in TCM) |
| 牡羊座 | mǔ yáng zuò | Aries (constellation and sign of the zodiac) |
| 牡丹乡 | mǔ dan xiāng | Mutan township in Pingtung County 屏東縣|屏东县[Ping2 dong1 Xian4], Taiwan |
| 牡丹江 | mǔ dān jiāng | see 牡丹江市[Mu3 dan1 jiang1 Shi4] |
| 骊黄牝牡 | lí huáng pìn mǔ | a black stallion or possibly a yellow mare (idiom) |
牡 appears in 22 compound words: 77 as the first character, 9 as the last, and 14 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 牡 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Showing 1 of 2 idioms containing 牡.
Example Sentences
牡字在不同的语境中有不同的用法。
mǔ zì zài bù tóng de yǔ jìng zhōng yǒu bù tóng de yòng fǎ .
The character "牡" has different usages in different contexts.
...格斯12星座一周运势3/23-3/29 牡羊桃花运极强、射手玩笑别开过头
. . . gé sī 1 2 xīng zuò yī zhōu yùn shì 3 2 3 3 2 9 mǔ yáng táo huā yùn jí qiáng , shè shǒu wán xiào bié kāi guò tóu
...Gus's Weekly Horoscope for the 12 Zodiac Signs: March 23–29. Aries has excellent romantic prospects; Sagittarius, don’t take your jokes too far.
...凡凡生了 娄峻硕全程陪产超震撼 爆泪喜迎牡羊宝
. . . fán fán shēng le 娄 jùn shuò quán chéng péi chǎn chāo zhèn hàn bào lèi xǐ yíng mǔ yáng bǎo
...Fanfan has given birth! Lou Junshuo was by her side the whole time—it was incredibly moving. They welcomed their little Aries bundle of joy with tears of joy.
每日星座运势/牡羊必须勤劳的耕耘 竞争获得财富
měi rì xīng zuò yùn shì mǔ yáng bì xū qín láo de gēng yún jìng zhēng huò dé cái fù
Daily Horoscope/Aries must work diligently to compete for wealth
买刮刮乐停不下来?4星座“赌性超强” 牡羊先冲再说是本能
mǎi guā guā lè tíng bù xià lái ? 4 xīng zuò dǔ xìng chāo qiáng mǔ yáng xiān chōng zài shuō shì běn néng
Can't stop buying scratch cards? 4 constellations are "super gambling" Aries rushes first and then instinctively
传统采洗牡蛎费工费时 台南引进洗蚵机提升效率
chuán tǒng cǎi xǐ mǔ 蛎 fèi gōng fèi shí tái nán yǐn jìn xǐ 蚵 jī tí shēng xiào lǜ
Traditional oyster washing is labor-intensive and time-consuming, and Tainan has introduced oyster washing machines to improve efficiency
我后悔吃了那些牡蛎。
Wǒ hòuhuǐ chī le nàxiē mǔlì.
I regret eating those oysters.
你能生吃牡蛎吗？
Nǐ néng shēng chī mǔlì ma?
Can you eat raw oysters?
你喜不喜欢牡蛎？
Nǐ xǐ bù xǐhuan mǔlì?
Do you like oysters?
现在牡蛎当季吗？
Xiànzài mǔlì dāng jì ma?
Are oysters in season now?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 牡 (mǔ) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 牡 and 母?
How many strokes does 牡 have?
What is the radical of 牡?
What are the components of 牡?
What are common words containing 牡?
What characters sound the same as 牡 (mǔ)?
Is 牡 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 牡 with real-time feedback
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