寒
cold
Readings
On'yomi
- カン
Kun'yomi
- さむ.い
Nanori
- さ
- さん
Meaning
寒 centers on the sensation and state of cold, especially the kind that makes one shiver or feel chilled.
Most common words using 寒
20 of 176- 寒いさむいN5
cold (e.g. weather)
- 寒かん
midwinter; cold season; coldest days of the year
- 寒冷かんれいN1
cold; coldness; chilliness
- 寒気さむけN2
chill; the shivers; shivering fit
- 寒気かんきN1
cold; coldness; cold air
- 肌寒いはださむい
chilly; unpleasantly cold
- 防寒ぼうかん
protection against the cold
- 寒天かんてん
freezing weather; cold weather
- 寒暖かんだん
cold and heat; (degree of) temperature
- 極寒ごっかん
extreme cold; intense cold; coldest season; midwinter
- 寒波かんぱN1
cold wave
- 悪寒おかんN1
chill; shakes; ague
- 耐寒たいかん
resistance to cold
- 寒色かんしょく
cold color; cold colour
- 寒中かんちゅう
mid-winter; cold season
- 寒空さむぞら
wintry sky; cold weather (in winter); wintry weather
- 寒冷前線かんれいぜんせん
cold front
- 寒風かんぷう
cold wind
- 厳寒げんかん
intense cold
- 寒村かんそん
poor village; desolate village; lonely village; remote village
Study
Etymology
寒 combines 宀 (roof) with 茻 (straw) and 冫 (ice), suggesting a person inside a house with straw for warmth while ice forms below, conveying extreme cold.
Meaning mnemonic
Under a roof 宀, a person huddles in straw (the inner ハ and 一 suggest a figure wrapped in straw) with ice 冫 forming on the ground: it's bitterly cold.
Reading mnemonic
For カン, imagine a can of hot soup warming you up on a cold day: can -> カン, and the warmth fights the cold.