the Ox; second sign of the Chinese zodiac
Refers to the second sign of the twelve-year zodiac cycle, commonly seen in compounds such as 丑年. Do not confuse this with 牛, the animal 'ox; cow'.
She was born in the Year of the Ox.
年賀状に丑の絵を描いた。
I drew a picture of the Ox on the New Year's card.
hour of the Ox; around 2 a.m.
Obsolete time-keeping term, now mostly encountered in historical, literary, or fixed expressions such as 丑の刻. The exact modern-hour range may vary by explanation.
See also: 丑の刻
In ghost stories, strange things happen at the hour of the Ox.
north-northeast
Obsolete directional use from traditional systems that assigned the Earthly Branches to directions; in modern ordinary speech one would normally say 北北東.
In explanations of old directional systems, 丑 indicates north-northeast.
Obsolete calendrical use for the twelfth month of the lunar calendar; modern Japanese normally uses terms such as 十二月 or 陰暦十二月 instead.
In old calendars, 丑 can represent the twelfth month of the lunar calendar.
Used for the order in the zodiac cycle (the second sign, etc.).
Standard kanji spelling for the second Earthly Branch, especially in zodiac and traditional calendrical uses. It is distinct from 牛, the ordinary kanji for an ox or cow.
丑 is the conventional character for the second of the twelve Earthly Branches in zodiac, calendrical, time, and direction systems. Its historical derivation is not specified; it should not be treated as the same spelling as 牛, the ordinary animal word.