牲 (shēng): domestic animal, sacrificial animal
牲 (shēng) is a Chinese character meaning “domestic animal.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 牛 (semantic) and 生 (phonetic). It ranks #1572 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 牲 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
- domestic animal
- sacrificial animal
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 牲 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 牺牲 | xī shēng | to sacrifice one's life |
| 牺牲品 | xī shēng pǐn | sacrificial victim |
| 牲口 | shēng kou | animals used for their physical strength (mules, oxen etc) |
| 牲畜 | shēng chù | farm animal |
| 三牲 | sān shēng | the three sacrificial animals (originally cow, sheep and pig |
| 牲体 | shēng tǐ | body of an animal (or human) killed sacrificially |
| 牺牲者 | xī shēng zhě | sb who sacrifices himself |
| 牺牲打 | xī shēng dǎ | sacrifice hit (in sport, e.g. baseball) |
| 牲礼 | shēng lǐ | (religion) to sacrifice |
| 英勇牺牲 | yīng yǒng xī shēng | to heroically sacrifice one's life |
| 宰牲节 | zǎi shēng jié | see 古爾邦節|古尔邦节[Gu3 er3 bang1 jie2] |
| 祭牲 | jì shēng | sacrificial animal |
| 畜牲 | chù shēng | variant of 畜生[chu4 sheng5] |
牲 appears in 13 compound words: 31 as the first character, 38 as the last, and 31 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 牲 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
牲字的写法很特别，让我印象深刻。
shēng zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .
The character for "sacrificial animal" has a very distinctive writing style that left a deep impression on me.
郑丽文谈改善两岸交流 不需要牺牲与美国关系
zhèng lí wén tán gǎi shàn liǎng àn jiāo liú bù xū yāo xī shēng yǔ měi guó guān xì
...大战!苹果传高价买断行动DRAM 不惜牺牲利润扩张市占
. . . dà zhàn ! píng guǒ chuán gāo jià mǎi duàn háng dòng D R A M bù xī xī shēng lì rùn kuò zhāng shì zhàn
逝者|抓捕嫌犯牺牲的额旺格拉:希望儿子长大后,也当一名警察
shì zhě zhuā bǔ xián fàn xī shēng de é wàng gé lā : xī wàng ér zǐ cháng dà hòu , yě dāng yī míng jǐng chá
横眉冷看:为有牺牲多壮志
héng méi lěng kàn : wéi yǒu xī shēng duō zhuàng zhì
Gazing coldly with furrowed brows: For the sake of sacrifice, how noble the ambition
俄乌战满四年 泽伦斯基:不会牺牲领土交换停火
é wū zhàn mǎn sì nián zé lún sī jī : bù huì xī shēng lǐng tǔ jiāo huàn tíng huǒ
Russia-Ukraine has been fighting for four years, Zelensky: There will be no sacrifice of a ceasefire in exchange for territory
为了救许多人牺牲一个人是否道德？
Wèile jiù xǔduō rén xīshēng yīgèrén shìfǒu dàodé?
Would it be ethical to sacrifice one person to save many?
你这个畜牲，给我滚开！
Nǐ zhège chùshēng, gěi wǒ gǔnkāi!
You filthy beast, get out of here!
监狱生活比做畜牲还不如。
Jiānyù shēnghuó bǐ zuò chùshēng háibùrú.
Life in prison is worse than the life of an animal.
士兵们已经准备好为国牺牲了。
Shìbīng men yǐjīng zhǔnbèi hǎo wèi guó xīshēng le.
The soldiers were ready to die for their country.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 牲 (shēng) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 牲 and 性?
How many strokes does 牲 have?
What is the radical of 牲?
What are the components of 牲?
What are common words containing 牲?
What characters sound the same as 牲 (shēng)?
Is 牲 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 牲 with real-time feedback
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