Nihongo

Kanji Detail of 凍

Level:N2 Low
Strokes:10
Stroke Order
Related Words
AI Explanation
Basic Meaning

The kanji represents the concept of freezing or becoming frozen. It embodies the idea of something being subjected to cold temperatures, causing a change in state from liquid to solid, or becoming icy. It also implies the result of such a process, like something that is frozen solid.

Readings

・On-yomi (音読み): トウ (tou) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): こお(る) (koo(ru)) - to freeze; こご(える) (kogo(eru)) - to be frozen

Usage Examples

⚫︎冷凍庫 Translation: Freezer ⚫︎凍結 Translation: Freezing, solidification ⚫︎凍える手 Translation: Frozen hands

Origin and Formation

The kanji is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, けいせいもじ). The semantic component is (こおり, "ice"), which provides the meaning related to cold and freezing. The phonetic component is (とう, "east"), which is included to hint at the sound of the character (in this case, トウ tou). The original meaning of is "to bind" (to tie or wrap) and eventually "east" evolved from this meaning. The combination of and conveys the idea of something being bound or solidified by the cold, resulting in freezing.

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