2indexing radical for characters relating to cold and ice
Tips
usage
冫 is nicknamed 两点水 ('two drops of water') and is the dead giveaway for cold-themed characters: 冷, 冻, 冰, 凉, 凌, 凄. Compare with 氵 (three drops, water in liquid form) — losing the third drop turns liquid into solid.
history
冫 is the proto-form of 冰 (ice). Modern Chinese never uses 冫 as a free word; it survives only as a radical.
Radical
IceKangxi #15
The ice radical. A reliable semantic clue: characters with 冫 on the left almost always involve cold, freezing, or chill — 冷, 冻, 凉, 凌, 凄, 准. Visually distinguished from 氵 (water/three drops) by stroke count, with the loss of one drop signaling water turning to ice.
