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Kanji for Ice

The kanji most commonly used for "Ice" are 氷、凌.

Kanji that mean Ice

  • ice, to freeze

    Onyomi: hyoh Kunyomi: hi, koo.ru, koori 5 strokes Jōyō

  • surpass

    Also associated with transcend, ice.

    Onyomi: ryoh Kunyomi: shino.gu 10 strokes Jinmeiyō

氷 is ice — the noun, the substance. It reads kōri on its own and hyō in compounds: 氷山 (iceberg), 氷河 (glacier), 氷点 (freezing point), 氷水 (ice water), かき氷 (the shaved ice sold at summer festivals).

One distinction matters. Although 氷 is glossed as “to freeze,” the ordinary verb kōru is written 凍る, and frozen food is 冷凍. Modern Japanese keeps 氷 for the thing and 凍 for the process, so if you mean freezing rather than ice, 凍 is the character you want.

Visually 氷 is 水 (water) with one stroke added, which makes the two easy to confuse at small sizes or in stylized brushwork — worth checking on anything permanent. In names 氷 is uncommon, but it survives in surnames and in words such as 氷室 (himuro, an ice house), where ice was stored through the summer before refrigeration.

Words using Ice kanji

Everyday Japanese vocabulary built from the characters above.

  • 氷山 ひょうざん Listen iceberg
  • 凌ぐ しのぐ Listen to endure; to keep out (e.g. rain); to stave off (e.g. starvation)
  • 氷河 ひょうが Listen glacier
  • 南氷洋 なんひょうよう Listen Antarctic Ocean

Before you use Ice kanji

氷 is unambiguous and reads as ice. Do not use it for the verb "to freeze" — that is 凍る, written with 凍. Check the drawing carefully as well: one stroke short of 氷 is 水, water.

Other meanings to explore

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