The kanji 牲 primarily means "sacrificial animal" or "victim." It refers to an animal offered as a sacrifice to the gods or deities, a practice common in ancient times. The core meaning centers on the idea of something being offered or given up for a specific purpose, often religious in nature.

・On-yomi (音読み): せい (sei) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): いけにえ (ikenie)

⚫︎犠牲（ぎせい） Translation: Sacrifice; victim ⚫︎犠牲者（ぎせいしゃ） Translation: Casualty; victim ⚫︎犠牲にする（ぎせいにする） Translation: To sacrifice; to offer as a sacrifice

The kanji 牲 is a 形声文字 (keisei moji), a phono-semantic compound character. The left side is the radical 牛 (うし, ushi) meaning "cow" or "cattle," which provides the semantic component, indicating that the meaning of the character relates to animals. The right side is 生 (せい, sei) which provides the phonetic component, suggesting the sound and also implying the meaning of "life" or "being alive," which connects to the animal being offered. The combination thus depicts a live animal, usually a cow, intended for a sacrifice.