牺 (xī): sacrifice
牺 (xī) is a Chinese character meaning “sacrifice.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 牛 (semantic) and 西 (phonetic). It ranks #1797 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 牺 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
- sacrifice
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 牺 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 |
| 牺牲者 | xī shēng zhě | sb who sacrifices himself |
| 牺牲打 | xī shēng dǎ | sacrifice hit (in sport, e.g. baseball) |
| 英勇牺牲 | yīng yǒng xī shēng | to heroically sacrifice one's life |
| 伏牺 | fú xī | variant of 伏羲[Fu2 xi1] |
| 庖牺氏 | páo xī shì | another name for 伏羲[Fu2 Xi1], consort of 女媧|女娲[Nu:3 wa1] |
牺 appears in 7 compound words: 57 as the first character, 14 as the last, and 29 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 牺 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
老师教我们牺字的发音和笔顺。
lǎo shī jiào wǒ men xī zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .
The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "sacrifice."
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
...货大战!苹果传高价买断行动DRAM 不惜牺牲利润扩张市占
. . . huò 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...
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 . . .
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?
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.
他救了那个婴儿，但是却牺牲了自己的生命。
Tā jiù le nàge yīng'ér, dànshì què xīshēng le zìjǐ de shēngmìng.
He saved the baby at the cost of his life.
约翰牺牲自己的健康，完成工作。
Yuēhàn xīshēng zìjǐ de jiànkāng, wánchéng gōngzuò.
John finished the work at the expense of his health.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 牺 (xī) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 牺 and 晒?
How many strokes does 牺 have?
What is the radical of 牺?
What are the components of 牺?
What are common words containing 牺?
What characters sound the same as 牺 (xī)?
Is 牺 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 牺 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.