midwinter; cold season; coldest days of the year
Refers to the coldest period of winter, often used in traditional contexts or set phrases like 寒の入り (beginning of the coldest season).
During the coldest season, be especially careful about your health.
Today marks the start of the coldest period of winter.
そろそろ寒が明ける頃だ。
It's about time for the coldest period of winter to come to an end.
厳寒 emphasizes especially severe, harsh cold, while 寒 simply names the traditional coldest period of the year without that intensity.
暑中 refers to the hottest period of summer, the seasonal opposite of 寒, the coldest period of winter.
The kanji 寒 means 'cold' and has been used historically to denote the cold season. The reading かん is the on'yomi, commonly used in compounds.
cold color; cool color
mid-winter; cold season
cold wind; wintry wind
intense cold; severe cold
poor village; desolate hamlet; remote village
alternation of three cold and four warm days
winter-blooming plum; early plum blossoms
extreme cold; bitter cold · Major Cold solar term
frigid zone
lingering winter cold
acute febrile illness; typhoid fever · cold-induced disease; cold damage
extreme cold
cold; chilly
frost; bitter cold
approach of winter; approaching the coldest time of the year
ninth day of the cold season
freezing mixture; refrigerant
egg laid in winter