畜 (chù) is a Chinese character meaning “livestock”. It is written from 玄 (dark; mysterious) and 田 (field; farmland), one above the other, and takes 10 strokes. It has a second reading, xù, which turns up in 畜牧 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.
Build the character for “livestock”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
玄 + 田
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 说文解字·田部：畜，田畜也。《淮南子》曰：玄田为畜（现代字形上玄下田）
Memory aid
A dark (玄) rope runs down to a field (田): the animals kept on the farm are tied up there. That is 畜, livestock.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 家畜jiā chùdomestic animal; livestock畜 = chù
- 牲畜shēng chùlivestock; domestic animals畜 = chù
Go deeper
All readings
livestock
livestock; domestic animal
人类饲养的禽兽，多指家畜。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 家畜jiā chùdomestic animal; livestock畜 = chù
- 牲畜shēng chùlivestock; domestic animals畜 = chù
to raise (animals)
to raise (animals); to rear
饲养（禽兽）。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 畜牧xù mùanimal husbandry; stock raising畜 = xù
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 畜 mean?
畜 (chù) means livestock; domestic animal.
How do you pronounce 畜?
Its main reading is chù. It also has a second reading, xù, which only shows up in certain words such as 畜牧 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.
Why is 畜 sometimes pronounced xù?
Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 畜牧 it is read xù.
What parts is 畜 made of?
玄 (dark; mysterious) and 田 (field; farmland), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字·田部：畜，田畜也。《淮南子》曰：玄田为畜（现代字形上玄下田）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 畜 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 畜?
田. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 畜?
Common ones are 家畜 and 牲畜. The reading of 畜 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.