寒 — “cold” in Japanese

Grade 3かん, さむ

Radical ⼧ · radical 40 The building block this kanji is filed under

“cold” in Japanese is 寒, read kan, samu (かん, さむ). It is a Grade 3 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 3 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 寒い (cold).

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What does 寒 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	寒
Meaning	cold
Readings	かん, さむ
Grade	Grade 3 (Medium)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	寒い (cold)

How to read 寒

寒 is read kan (かん) or samu (さむ) depending on the word.

Words with 寒

寒いcold

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Kanji read the same way as 寒

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Updated: 2026-08-28