Chinese symbol for “cow”
牛
niú
ox; cow; bull; 条 (tiáo),头 (tóu)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for cow is 牛 (niú), defined as: ox; cow; bull; 条 (tiáo),头 (tóu); newton (abbr. for 牛顿 (niú dùn)); (slang) awesome.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Other Chinese words for “cow”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 威吓 (威嚇) | wēi hè | to threaten; to intimidate |
| 牛只 (牛隻) | niú zhī | cow; cattle |
| 牸牛 | zì niú | cow |
| 牯 | gǔ | bullock; cow |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 牛.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 牛奶 | niú nǎi | cow's milk; measure word: 瓶 (píng), 杯 (bēi) |
| 牛肉 | niú ròu | beef |
| 牛顿 (牛頓) | niú dùn | newton (SI unit of force) |
| 牛仔裤 (牛仔褲) | niú zǎi kù | jeans; 条 (tiáo) |
| 牛仔 | niú zǎi | cowboy |
| 公牛 | gōng niú | bull |
See also: Japanese symbol for “cow”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.