The kanji 牲 primarily refers to "sacrificial animal" or "victim". It denotes an animal offered as a sacrifice to the gods or deities, a practice common in ancient times. It can also broadly refer to livestock. The core meaning revolves around something that is given, offered, or dedicated, often with a sense of loss or value.

・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 ⚫︎ 牲畜 (せいちく) Translation: Livestock ⚫︎ 牲礼 (せいれい) Translation: Offering (used in rituals or ceremonies)

The kanji 牲 is a 形声文字 (keisei moji), a phono-semantic compound character. The left side is the radical of "牛" (うし - ushi, cow, cattle) which provides the meaning component. The right side is 生 (せい - sei) which is a phonetic component, indicating the pronunciation. Therefore, it originally depicted a cow (or other livestock) being offered as a sacrifice. The structure shows the character's core meaning related to offering animals and their dedication.