Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements

氷: icicle, ice

Also: hail, freeze, congeal

JLPT N25 strokesGrade 3Your ink: 白 Not met

水 and 丶 carry the meaning

5 strokes

Three readings, and the words that use each

ヒョウhyou · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 氷山ひょうざんiceberg
  • 氷河ひょうがglacier
  • 氷河期ひょうがきglacial period
  • 氷点下ひょうてんかbelow freezing
  • 樹氷じゅひょうfrost covered trees
  • 製氷せいひょうice making
  • 流氷りゅうひょうdrift ice, ice floe

こおりkoori · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 氷こおりice
  • 氷枕こおりまくらice pillow
  • かき氷かきごおりsnow cone, flavored ice

ひhi · kun'yomi

  • 氷雨ひさめhail, freezing rain

Also read こおる, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Water + a drop (the dot) = a drop of water that has been 'stopped' or frozen solid by the cold.”
From the 水 water story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
水

Also built on water (水)

All 5
丶

Also built on dot (丶)

All 20

Also read ヒョウ

11 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
氷 icicle
vs永 eternity
Same parts, arranged differently.
In ChineseSimplified 冰 · traditional, as in Japanese · bīng

Japan keeps the traditional form 氷; mainland China simplifies it to 冰.

Simplified
冰 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
氷 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin bīng most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

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