冬 (dōng) is a Chinese character meaning “winter”. It is written from 夂 (trailing foot; to go slowly) and 冫 (ice; two dots of ice), one above the other, and takes 5 strokes.
Build the character for “winter”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
夂 + 冫
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 冬，四時盡也。从仌从夂（仌为今之冫）
Memory aid
Two ice drops (冫) sit under a slow, dragging foot (夂). Walking on ice — that is winter.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
5 strokes
In real words
- 冬天dōng tiānwinter冬 = dōngHSK 1
- 冬季dōng jìthe winter season冬 = dōng
Go deeper
All readings
winter
winter; the coldest season of the year
一年四季中最冷的季节。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 冬天dōng tiānwinter冬 = dōngHSK 1
- 冬季dōng jìthe winter season冬 = dōng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 冬 mean?
冬 (dōng) means winter; the coldest season of the year.
How do you pronounce 冬?
It is pronounced dōng.
What parts is 冬 made of?
夂 (trailing foot; to go slowly) and 冫 (ice; two dots of ice), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 冬，四時盡也。从仌从夂（仌为今之冫）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 冬 have?
5. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 冬?
冫. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 冬?
Common ones are 冬天 and 冬季. The reading of 冬 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.