冷
冷 — Cool
cool, cold (beer, person), chill
On’yomiレイ (rei)
Kun’yomiつめたい (tsumetai)
Kun’yomiひえる (hieru)
Kun’yomiひや (hiya)
Kun’yomiひややか (hiyayaka)
Kun’yomiひやす (hiyasu)
Stroke order (7 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 冷
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 冷戦 | れいせん reisen | cold war; the Cold War |
| 冷静 | れいせい reisei | calmness; composure; coolness |
| 冷却 | れいきゃく reikyaku | cooling; refrigeration; cooling down (of a political conflict, etc.) |
| 冷蔵庫 | れいぞうこ reizouko | refrigerator; fridge |
| 冷凍 | れいとう reitou | freezing; cold storage; refrigeration |
| 冷夏 | れいか reika | cool summer; cold summer; cooler-than-normal summer |
Study notes
冷 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 7 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 4), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #667 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).
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