牧 (mù) is a Chinese character meaning “to herd or tend grazing animals”. It is written from 牛 (ox; cow) and 攵 (a hand holding a stick; marks an action done to something), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “to herd cattle”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
牛 + 攵
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 牧，養牛人也。从攴从牛
Memory aid
An ox (牛) on the left, a hand with a stick (攵) on the right. Both parts are really in this character: someone driving cattle across the grass — herding.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 牧场mù chǎngpasture; ranch; grazing land牧 = mù
- 放牧fàng mùto graze; to put animals out to pasture牧 = mù
- 畜牧xù mùanimal husbandry; stock raising牧 = mù
Go deeper
All readings
to herd; to graze
to herd or tend grazing animals; pastoral, of herding
放养牲畜；与放养牲畜有关的。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 牧场mù chǎngpasture; ranch; grazing land牧 = mù
- 放牧fàng mùto graze; to put animals out to pasture牧 = mù
- 畜牧xù mùanimal husbandry; stock raising牧 = mù
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 牧 mean?
牧 (mù) means to herd or tend grazing animals; pastoral, of herding.
How do you pronounce 牧?
It is pronounced mù.
What parts is 牧 made of?
牛 (ox; cow) and 攵 (a hand holding a stick; marks an action done to something), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 牧，養牛人也。从攴从牛. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 牧 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 牧?
牛. 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 牧?
Common ones are 牧场 and 放牧. The reading of 牧 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.