冬 (dōng): winter, (onom.) beating a drum, rat-a-tat
冬 (dōng) is a Chinese character meaning “winter.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 夂 (structural) and ⺀ (structural). It ranks #1376 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 冬 a man walking 夂 on ice ⺀. Its radical form 冫 (ice) appears in many related characters such as 冷 (lěng, cold), 净 (jìng, clean), 准 (zhǔn, to allow).
Definitions
- winter
- (onom.) beating a drum
- rat-a-tat
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA man walking 夂 on ice ⺀
Decomposition: ⿱夂⺀ (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 冬 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 冬
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 冬季 | dōng jì | winter |
| 冬眠 | dōng mián | to hibernate |
| 冬青 | dōng qīng | holly |
| 冬瓜 | dōng guā | wax gourd (Cucurbitaceae, Benincasa hispida) |
| 过冬 | guò dōng | to get through the winter |
| 严冬 | yán dōng | severe winter |
| 忍冬 | rěn dōng | honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) |
| 隆冬 | lóng dōng | midwinter |
| 冬奥会 | dōng ào huì | Winter Olympics |
| 冬至 | dōng zhì | Winter Solstice, 22nd of the 24 solar terms 二十四節氣|二十四节气 22nd December-5th January |
| 冬衣 | dōng yī | winter clothes |
| 丁冬 | dīng dōng | (onom.) ding dong |
| 天门冬 | tiān mén dōng | asparagus |
| 入冬 | rù dōng | winter sets in |
| 波塞冬 | bō sài dōng | Poseidon, god of the sea in Greek mythology |
冬 appears in 74 compound words: 50 as the first character, 31 as the last, and 19 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 冬 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Example Sentences
老师教我们冬字的发音和笔顺。
lǎo shī jiào wǒ men dōng zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .
The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "冬."
米兰冬奥|有爱人也有惺惺相惜的对手,王心迪与瑞...
mǐ lán dōng ào yǒu ài rén yě yǒu 惺 惺 xiāng xī de duì shǒu , wáng xīn dí yǔ ruì . . .
Milan Winter Olympics|There are lovers and opponents who cherish each other, Wang Xindi and Rui...
冬奥会|速滑综合:荷兰老将德容四战奥运首夺...
dōng ào huì sù huá zèng gě : hé lán lǎo jiāng dé róng sì zhàn ào yùn shǒu duó . . .
Winter Olympics|Speed skating comprehensive: Dutch veteran De Jong won the first Olympic Games in four games...
冬奥会|家乡连线:“我儿子是冠军!”——宁...
dōng ào huì jiā xiāng lián xiàn : wǒ ér zǐ shì guàn jūn ! — — nìng . . .
Winter Olympics|Hometown Connection: "My son is a champion!" ——Ning...
冬奥会|家乡连线:“最强夫妻档”!电影都不...
dōng ào huì jiā xiāng lián xiàn : zuì qiáng fū qī dàng ! diàn yǐng dōu bù . . .
Winter Olympics|Hometown Connection: "The Strongest Couple"! Movies are not...
新春中国行丨中国年遇上“送冬节”:中俄民众共赴春天..
xīn chūn zhōng guó háng 丨 zhōng guó nián yù shàng sòng dōng jié : zhōng é mín zhòng gòng fù chūn tiān . .
New Year China Tour丨Chinese New Year meets "Winter Festival": Chinese and Russian people go to spring together:
冬天到了，春天还会远吗？
Dōngtiān dào le, chūntiān hái huì yuǎn ma?
Winter is here, spring can't be far?
蜜蜂在冬天干什么呢？
Mìfēng zài dōngtiān gàn shénme ne?
What do bees do in winter?
热水袋真是冬日必备好物！
Rèshuǐdài zhēnshi dōng rì bìbèi hǎowù!
A hot water bottle is something you must buy to prepare for the winter months.
去年冬天下了好多雪。
Qùnián dōngtiān xià le hǎoduō xuě.
There was a lot of snow last winter.
Character Family
冫 Radical Family — Characters sharing the ice radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 冬 (dōng) mean in Chinese?
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What are common words containing 冬?
What characters sound the same as 冬 (dōng)?
Is 冬 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 冬 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.