冬 | Chinese Character for Winter
chinese characters

冬 | Chinese Character for Winter

is the character for “winter”. It is made out of 5 strokes.

Chinese CharacterSimplified VersionBopomofoPinyin
ㄉㄨㄥdōng

Definition

Winter

Historical Origins

The Chinese character has origins that reflect both its sound and meaning. It is both an ideogrammic compound and a phono-semantic compound, combining elements that convey its seasonal and linguistic significance.

The character is formed with (zhǐ, “end”) as the phonetic component, which represents the idea of something concluding, much like winter marks the final season of the year. The semantic component is either (, “day”), symbolizing the passage of time, or (bīng, “ice”), directly linking the character to the cold and frosty conditions of winter.

Vocabulary with the Character 冬

ChineseBopomofoPinyinEnglish
冬天ㄉㄨㄥ ㄊㄧㄢdōngtiānWinter
冬季ㄉㄨㄥ ㄐㄧˋdōngjìWinter season
冬眠ㄉㄨㄥ ㄇㄧㄢˊdōngmiánHibernation
冬瓜ㄉㄨㄥ ㄍㄨㄚdōngguāWinter melon

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