丑

丑 U+4E11, 丑 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4E11 ← 丐 [U+4E10] CJK Unified Ideographs 丒 → [U+4E12]

Stroke order (Chinese)

丑 (Kangxi radical 1, 一+3, 4 strokes, cangjie input 弓土 (NG), four-corner 1710₅, composition ⿴ユ十(HJKTV) or ⿻彐丨(G))

Traditional	丑
Simplified	丑
Japanese	丑
Korean	丑

In Mainland China's Modern Chinese General Chinese Characters Stroke Order Standard (现代汉语通用字笔顺规范) and Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Cidian (《现代汉语规范词典》), the third stroke touches the first stroke (相接 (xiāngjiē)) but does not cross over it. In the Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong standards, the third stroke crosses over the first stroke (相交 (xiāngjiāo)).

• 扭 妞 忸 狃 沑 吜 杻 炄 㺲 䏔 䂇 䖡 紐(纽) 衄 粈 䚼 鈕(钮) 靵 䶊 𮮬 羞 峱 䛝 侴 橻

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 77, character 4
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 23
• Dae Jaweon: page 154, character 4
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 12, character 7
• Unihan data for U+4E11

Pictogram (象形) – a hand or an animal claw. Phonetically borrowed to represent an earthly branch.

trad.		丑
simp. #		丑
alternative forms		丒 㗺 𠃠

Smith (2010) proposes that 丑 graphically depicts the claw-like "final, narrow phase of the moon"; he glosses it as "thing that pinches > pincer" and groups it into a word-family which is based on 扭 (OC *nuʔ, *tnuʔ, “twist, pinch”) and also includes

• 手 (OC *hnjɯwʔ, “hand”);
• 杻 (OC *nuʔ, *n̥ʰuʔ) ~ 杽 (OC *n̥ʰɯwʔ, “manacle”), which equally uses 丑 (OC *n̥ʰuʔ) or 手 (OC *hnjɯwʔ) as phonophoric, as noted by Unger (1995) and Sagart (1999);
• 紐 (OC *nuʔ) ~ 鈕 (OC *nuʔ, “grip handle”), with which Shuowen glosses 丑 (OC *n̥ʰuʔ);
• 狃 (OC *nuʔ, *nus, “animal tracks”), suggested to mean "animals' fingers" by Sagart (1999).

Its association with the ox is from Austroasiatic (Mei, 1980; Norman, 1985; Ferlus, 2013); compare Proto-Vietic *c-luː (“water buffalo”), Proto-Mon-Khmer *krpiʔ ~ *krpiiw ~ *krpuʔ ~ *(kr)puh (“buffalo”), Proto-Austroasiatic *k.r.pu.y (“buffalo”).

丑

1. second of twelve earthly branches (地支)
   1. (Chinese zodiac) ox (牛)
2. a surname

• (Chinese earthly branches) 地支 (dìzhī); 子, 丑 (chǒu), 寅 (yín), 卯 (mǎo), 辰 (chén), 巳 (sì), 午 (wǔ), 未 (wèi), 申 (shēn), 酉 (yǒu), 戌, 亥 (hài) ^{(Category: zh:Chinese earthly branches)}

trad.		丑
simp. #		丑

From 醜／丑 (chǒu, “ugly”):

以墨粉塗面，其形甚醜。今省文為丑。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

以墨粉涂面，其形甚醜。今省文为丑。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: 1559, 徐渭 [Xu Wei], 《南詞敘錄》 [An Account of Southern Drama]

Yǐ mòfěn tú miàn, qí xíng shèn chǒu. Jīn xǐngwén wèi chǒu. [Pinyin]

His face is smeared with powdered ink, and his appearance is very 醜 (ugly). It is now graphically simplified to 丑.

丑

1. clown; comedian

For pronunciation and definitions of 丑 – see 醜 (“ugly; homely; hideous; shameful; disgraceful; etc.”). (This character is the simplified form of 醜).

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

1. 1:00 AM to 3:00 AM.
2. The ox, the second sign of Chinese zodiac.

• Go-on: ちゅ (chu)^{←ちゆ (tyu, historical)}
• Kan-on: ちゅう (chū)^{←ちう (tiu, historical)}
• On: しゅ (shu)^{←しゆ (syu, historical)}、しゅう (shū)^{←しう (siu, historical)}
• Kun: うし (ushi, 丑)
• Nanori: ひろ (hiro)

Kanji in this term
丑
うし Jinmeiyō
kun'yomi

From 牛 (ushi, “bull; cow; ox”).

• (Tokyo) うし [ùshí] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ɯ̟ɕi]

• Homophone: 牛

丑(うし) • (Ushi) 

1. the Ox, the second of the twelve Earthly Branches

   Hypernyms: 十二支, 地支

   Coordinate terms: 子, 丑, 寅, 卯, 辰, 巳, 午, 未, 申, 酉, 戌, 亥

Kanji in this term
丑
ちゅう Jinmeiyō
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese 丑 (trhjuw^X).

丑(ちゅう) • (Chū) ^{←ちう (Tiu)?}

1. the Ox, the second of the twelve Earthly Branches

   Hypernyms: 十二支, 地支

   Coordinate terms: 子, 丑, 寅, 卯, 辰, 巳, 午, 未, 申, 酉, 戌, 亥

From a corrupted or unorthodox reading. The original reading is 추 (chu) based on Middle Chinese 丑 (MC trhjuwX).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕʰuk̚]
• Phonetic hangul: [축]

Wikisource

丑 (eumhun 소 축 (so chuk))
丑 (eumhun 둘째 지지 축 (duljjae jiji chuk))

1. hanja form^? of 축 (“ox; second earthly branch”)

From Middle Chinese 丑 (MC trhjuwX). Recorded as Middle Korean 튜ᇢ〯 (Yale: thyǔw) in Dongguk Jeongun (東國正韻 / 동국정운), 1448.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕʰu]
• Phonetic hangul: [추]

丑 (eumhun 사람 이름 추 (saram ireum chu))

1. Used in personal names.

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [1]

丑: Hán Nôm readings: sửu, giấu, sấu, xấu, trửu, trẩu, chẩu, chửu

1. chữ Hán form of Sửu (“second of the twelve earthly branches”).

   Hypernyms: 地支, 十二支

   Coordinate terms: 子, 丑, 寅, 卯, 辰, 巳, 午, 未, 申, 酉, 戌, 亥

• Nom Foundation