entries → 牡
TSUMUGU · B2 (est.) · 字
牡 character · B2 (est.)
牡 ＝ 牛 ＋ 土
ㄇㄨˇ · mǔ
adj/noun — male (of animals); a male beast

字源 FORM — what the parts do

牛義an ox, cattlethe animal — paired with 牝 (the female)
土聲tǔ — gives the sound here, not "earth"the right stroke marks the male; sound drifted tǔ → mǔ
{t,m}Itǔ → mǔ — the stroke beside the ox is the phonetic, the initial crossing t to m
An ox (牛) on the left for the animal; the upright stroke on the right is the marker for "male," read as 土 tǔ for the sound, the initial worn across to mǔ. 牡 is the male beast, set against 牝 the female: 牡牛、牡丹 the king of flowers. Read 土 here as sound only — not the earth it looks like.

故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by

牛（牛）旁立一豎——這頭是公的，牡。
An ox (牛) with an upright stroke beside it — this one is male, 牡.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)牡— male (of animals)常用
→牡牛、牡丹— a bull; the peony (牡丹)
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
牝pìnthe pair — 牝 marks the female animal, 牡 the male; both ride 牛杜＝ 木 ＋ 土dùthe 土 cousin — 杜 takes 木 the tree, 牡 takes 牛 the ox, same 土 for sound