also: けんとう
A literary, somewhat archaic term for winter, often used in poetry or elevated prose. Not used in everyday conversation; the common word is 冬 (ふゆ).
In this winter season, I hope you are all doing well.
This haiku captures the severity of winter.
Literary kanji compound for winter. The reading げんとう is standard; けんとう is a less common variant.
Variant reading of the same kanji form, less common than げんとう.
From Chinese 玄冬 (xuándōng), where 玄 (dark, profound) and 冬 (winter) combine to poetically denote winter. The reading げんとう is the expected on'yomi; けんとう is a variant.