The Chinese word for animal is
动物

dòng wù

Chinese Definition

animal
1. 动物
Components
动
1. Simplified form of 動
2. Simplified form of 働
物
1. thing, matter
物體 - object
動物 - animal lit. moving thing
2. all of the outside world, excluding oneself
3. substance, content
4. Short for 物理 (physics)
5. to choose, to select
6. to seek, to look for
物色 - to seek out, to scout out
7. (Teochew) to do
家己物 (ga1 gi7 muêh8, MN-T) - do it by oneself
8. (obsolete) Alternative form of 勿
9. (Min Nan) Alternative form of 乜 (what)

動物
1. n. animal; creature
動物本能 - animal instinct
螯肢動物 - cheliceral creature
虐待動物 - to be cruel to animals; animal cruelty
珍稀動物 - rare animals
你最想成為哪種動物？ - What animal would you most like to be?
動物的尾巴ba 有什麼功能？ - What are the functions of an animal’s tail?
急轉彎以避免撞到動物是造成車禍的主要原因。 - Swerving to avoid animals is a major cause of crashes.
2. n. (literally) moving thing