Kanji for Ice

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.