The Chinese word 公牛 (gōngniú), meaning "bull", is a straightforward compound formed by combining the two characters 公 (gōng), which means "male" or "public", and 牛 (niú), which means "cow" or "ox". This follows a common pattern in Chinese where the gender or a key attribute is specified before the general animal name, creating a logical and semantic compound; thus, 公牛 literally translates to "male cow", specifically distinguishing the male bovine from the female 母牛 (mǔniú, "cow").