冬 meaning and stroke order
Winter, 11th lunar month
How to write 冬, stroke by stroke
5 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Meaning of 冬
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- winter
- (onom.) beating a drum
- rat-a-tat
How 冬 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A man walking 夂 on ice ⺀.
How to remember 冬
The top part 夂 shows a person walking slowly, and the two dots ⺀ below are ice. Picture someone stepping carefully over ice, and you have winter: 冬 (dōng).
冬 usually appears in words like 冬天 (dōngtiān) and 冬季 (dōngjì), which both mean winter. 冬季 sounds a bit more formal, as in weather reports or school terms. Example: 北京的冬天很冷。(Běijīng de dōngtiān hěn lěng.) Winter in Beijing is very cold.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 冬 (dōng) with 东 (dōng, east), since they sound exactly the same. Remember that 冬 has the two ice dots at the bottom, and 东 does not.
Common words with 冬
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
冬 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 冬
Learning 冬 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 冬
How many strokes are in 冬?
冬 is written with 5 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 冬 mean?
冬 (dōng) means winter, 11th lunar month. A common word with it is 冬天 (dōngtiān), meaning "winter".
How do you pronounce 冬?
冬 is pronounced dōng, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 冬?
The radical of 冬 is ⺀. Dictionaries list 冬 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 冬?
The traditional form of 冬 is 鼕. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 冬 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 冬 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 冬 is part of the HSK 2 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 2.
How do you say the four seasons in Chinese?
Spring is 春天 (chūntiān), summer is 夏天 (xiàtiān), autumn is 秋天 (qiūtiān), and winter is 冬天 (dōngtiān). The single characters 春夏秋冬 (chūn xià qiū dōng) are often listed together in this order.
Can 冬 be used for a drum sound?
Yes. 冬 can imitate drumming, like rat-a-tat, as in 冬冬 (dōngdōng). This sense is less common, and the traditional character for it is 鼕.