冰
ice, hail
Strokes6
Readings
On'yomi
- ヒョウ
Kun'yomi
- こおり
- ひ
- こお.る
Meaning
冰 centers on frozen water: ice and hail are both forms of solid, icy precipitation.
Study
Etymology
冰 combines 冫 (ice) with 水 (water) to express frozen water. This is a straightforward semantic compound.
Meaning mnemonic
The left side 冫 is the ice radical, and the right side is 水 water. Together they show water turned to ice: frozen solid, like hail.
Reading mnemonic
For ヒョウ, imagine a hyō (雹, hail) stone made of ice: hyō -> ヒョウ, and the kanji 冰 means ice and hail.