冽 (liè): bitterly cold

Meanings

凛冽的寒风吹过旷野。

Lǐnliè de hánfēng chuīguò kuàngyě.

A bitterly cold wind blew across the wilderness.

泉水清冽甘甜。

Quánshuǐ qīngliè gāntián.

The spring water was clear, cold and sweet.

usage

Common in 凛冽 (piercingly cold, of wind) and 清冽 (clear and cold, of water). Both are literary in flavor.

radical

冫 bīng

ice

Left 冫 is the ice radical (two-drop form of 冰). It supplies the cold meaning — putting 冽 with 冷 (cold) and 冻 (to freeze).

phonetic

列 liè

to arrange; phonetic

Right 列 supplies the sound exactly (liè = liè). The same phonetic anchors 烈 (fierce) and 裂 (to split).

冽 liè