冰

• Pinyin: bīng
• Hanzi breakdown: 冰 = 冫(ice radical) + 水 (water) — ice formed from water

Meaning

Ice. Refers to frozen water or anything ice-cold.

Used both literally for ice and figuratively to describe something extremely cold. Commonly appears in compound words like 冰水 (ice water), 冰淇淋 (ice cream), and 冰箱 (refrigerator). Can also be used as an adjective meaning 'icy' or 'ice-cold'.

Examples

1. 夏天喝一杯加冰的水特别舒服。 Drinking a glass of iced water in summer is really refreshing.
2. 湖面上的冰已经很厚了，可以在上面滑冰。 The ice on the lake is already very thick; you can skate on it.
3. 她把西瓜放在冰里面，这样吃起来更凉快。 She put the watermelon in ice so it would be cooler to eat.

Usage Guide

Context: everyday, food, weather

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 请给我一杯加冰的可乐。(Please give me a cola with ice.)
• 冬天路上有冰，走路要小心。(There's ice on the road in winter, be careful when walking.)

Don't Say

• 说'我要吃冰'来表示吃冰淇淋 (Don't say 吃冰 when you mean ice cream — say 吃冰淇淋; 吃冰 literally means eating ice cubes, though in Taiwan it can mean shaved ice)

Origin & History

A pictographic character depicting frozen water. The original form showed water crystallising, later simplified to the modern form 冰.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal