noun
Refers to land used for grazing livestock. Often appears in compound words like 牧場 (ぼくじょう) or 牧草地 (ぼくそうち), but can stand alone.
牛が牧で草を食べている。
Cows are eating grass in the pasture.
このあたりは昔、広い牧だった。
This area used to be a wide grazing land long ago.
牧場 is the more common word for a livestock farm or ranch, while 牧 (まき) is a shorter, somewhat literary term for pasture or grazing land.
牧草地 specifically means pastureland or meadow for grazing, emphasizing the grassy nature, whereas 牧 can refer to the land itself more generally.
The kanji 牧 combines 牛 (cow) and 攵 (strike/action), originally depicting herding cattle. The reading まき is the native Japanese word for pasture.