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Kotomora

寒

cold

JLPTN4StatusJōyō · grade 3FrequencyTop 2,000Strokes12

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

Explore all words using 寒 →

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.