Chinese symbol for “drudge”
牛马
niú mǎ
Traditional: 牛馬
oxen and horses; beasts of burden; (fig.) drudge; laborer
The closest CC-CEDICT match for drudge is 牛马 (niú mǎ), defined as: oxen and horses; beasts of burden; (fig.) drudge; laborer.
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
Traditional forms
Related words
Other words that share a character with 牛马.
| 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 |
| 马上 (馬上) | mǎ shàng | at once; right away |
| 马克 (馬克) | mǎ kè | mark (monetary unit) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “drudge”.
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.