寒
寒 — Cold
cold
On’yomiカン (kan)
Kun’yomiさむい (samui)
Stroke order (12 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 寒
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 寒さ | さむさ samusa | coldness |
| 寒気 | さむけ samuke | chill; the shivers; shivering fit |
| 悪寒 | おかん okan | chill; shakes; ague |
| 寒い | さむい samui | cold (e.g. weather); uninteresting (esp. joke); lame |
| 寒暖計 | かんだんけい kandankei | thermometer |
| 寒波 | かんぱ kanpa | cold wave |
Study notes
寒 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 12 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 3), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1456 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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