海牛
hǎiniú
The English word manatee is translated into Chinese as 海牛 (hǎiniú).
海牛 refers to any of several plant-eating marine mammals of the family Trichechidae.
Meaning: any of several plant-eating marine mammals, of family Trichechidae (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The term 海牛 literally translates to sea cow.
How do you pronounce it?
hǎiniú
Did you know?
- Chinese has several 'sea' versions of land animals, such as 海豹 for 'sea leopard' to describe a seal.
- The word 牛 (niú) can also be used as slang in mainland China to mean 'awesome' or 'extraordinary', though this is rarely applied to the sea creature itself.
- The character 海 for 'sea' is composed of the 'water' radical and a phonetic component that originally depicted a woman, suggesting a historical link between the ocean and femininity.
Examples in context
- 海牛非常温顺。Hǎiniú fēicháng wēnshùn.The manatee is very gentle.
- 我们在水族馆看到了海牛。Wǒmen zài shuǐzúguǎn kàndào le hǎiniú.We saw a manatee at the aquarium.
- 海牛主要吃水生植物。Hǎiniú zhǔyào chī shuǐshēng zhíwù.Manatees mainly eat aquatic plants.
Example conversation
Two people are watching a nature documentary at home.
- 梓涵 Zihan那只海牛在游泳。Nà zhī hǎiniú zài yóuyǒng.That manatee is swimming.
- 伟 Wei它看起来真可爱。Tā kàn qǐlái zhēn kě'ài.It looks so cute.
- 梓涵 Zihan我想去动物园看海牛。Wǒ xiǎng qù dòngwùyuán kàn hǎiniú.I want to go to the zoo to see manatees.
- 伟 Wei好啊，我们下次去吧。Hǎo a, wǒmen xià cì qù ba.Okay, let's go next time.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “manatee” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
