Meaning & readings

winter

On’yomi トウ
Kun’yomi ふゆ

Origin

The character combines two visual elements that evoke the coldness of winter. The top part suggests a person or form turning inward, while the bottom part, made of two vertical lines, represents ice or frost. Together, these components create a picture of the season when cold dominates the landscape and water freezes. The combined imagery conveys the essential quality of winter as the cold, icy time of year.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).

5 strokes

Components

  • radical top
  • radical bottom

Common words

  • 越冬 えっとう passing the winter; hibernation
  • 真冬 まふゆ midwinter; dead of winter
  • 暖冬 だんとう mild winter; warm winter
  • 冬季 とうき winter season; winter
  • 冬至 とうじ winter solstice
  • 冬物 ふゆもの winter clothing; winter wear
  • 冬眠 とうみん hibernation; winter sleep
  • 冬期 とうき winter; wintertime

Reference

Strokes
5
Kangxi radical
15
Grade
Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#1090 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 3
Unicode
U+051AC