牛 niú ox; cow; bull
A measure word to use for this noun: 头 tóu
Made with 4 strokes.
Pictogram of an ox, originally with two horns now with only the left hand one
Ancient small seal form 
Radical
Index 93 used in: 物 wù (thing)Pronunciation
Sound file kindly provided by shtooka.net ➚ under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License
Stroke order for character 牛, kindly provided under Wikimedia creative commons license ➚
Proverbs
对牛弹琴 duì niú tán qín Wasting your time on pointless efforts. The 'lute' in this case is the qin, a traditional musical instrument. To address an inappropriate and unappreciative audience. A story from the Han dynasty when Mouzi Lihuolun, a Confucian scholar, tried to describe Buddhist teaching to an audience but failed because his audience had no basic understanding of the concepts九牛二虎之力 jiǔ niú èr hǔ zhī lì Tremendously strong
九牛一毛 jiǔ niú yī maó An insignificant amount. A trivial matter
牛鼎烹鸡 niú dǐng pēng jī An in appropriate tool or scale of preparation for a job. Also refers to when a person of great skill is given a menial job
风马牛不相及 fēng mǎ niú bù xiāng jí People moving in different circles, different agendas. Having nothing in common.
杀鸡焉用牛刀 shā jī yān yòng niú dāo Taking unnecessary effort to tackle a small problem. Using an inappropriately large tool for the job.
Also
牛 niú ox犀牛 xī niú rhinoceros