冷まします（さまします、samashiまsu）
- to cool down

The Japanese word 冷まします (ささまします) means "to cool something down," "to let something cool," or "to chill." It refers to the action of reducing the temperature of an object or substance, usually from a higher temperature to a lower one. This can involve allowing something to reach room temperature, or actively cooling it. The word encompasses both the action and the result of cooling. The verb is a causative form, indicating that someone is causing something else to cool.

⚫︎お風呂のお湯を冷まします。 Translation: I'll cool down the bath water. ⚫︎熱いスープを冷ましてから食べましょう。 Translation: Let's let the hot soup cool down before eating. ⚫︎コーヒーを冷ましますか？ Translation: Would you like me to cool the coffee down?

This word is used in various situations where you need to reduce the temperature of something. ⚫︎You can use it when talking about food and drinks (like cooling down hot tea or soup). ⚫︎It can be used for cooling down objects like a room (by using air conditioning) or even medical packs. ⚫︎It's generally a polite and direct way to express the action of cooling something down. ⚫︎You often use it when you are taking action on something that will result in the cooling.

冷まします is written in kanji 冷 (rei - cold), followed by hiragana ま (ma), し (shi), ます (masu) which make up the verb conjugation. The base form of the verb is 冷ます (さます - samasu). The ます form indicates politeness. The okurigana (hiragana suffixes) following the kanji 冷 are fixed and standard. 冷まします and conjugations are always written as such.

⚫︎冷やす (ひやす - hiyasu): "to cool" or "to chill." This is the plain form, and can have a wider application than 冷まします. ⚫︎冷める (さめる - sameru): "to cool down" (intransitive). This implies that something cools down *by itself*, rather than being cooled by someone. ⚫︎冷ます (さます - samasu): the plain form, "to cool down."

⚫︎温めます (あたためます - atatamemasu): "to warm up" or "to heat up." ⚫︎熱くします (あつくします - atsuku shimasu): "to make something hot."

夕食のカレーが熱すぎるから、少し冷まします。 ・Translation: The curry for dinner is too hot, so I'll cool it down a bit. ・Explanation: This sentence demonstrates 冷まします being used to cool down food that is too hot.

熱くなったパソコンを冷まします。 ・Translation: I will cool down the hot computer. ・Explanation: This sentence shows 冷まします used to cool down a piece of equipment that is over heating.

The kanji 冷 (rei) comes from the element of cold. The verb stem ます (masu) is related to the verb する (suru - to do), indicating an action. Therefore, the word 冷まします is constructed from the idea of "cold" and the action of "making" or "doing," hence "to make cold" or "to cool."