凍

A phono-semantic compound made from:

冫 (빙, “ice” radical) - conveys the meaning “ice, coldness”;

東 (동, “east”) - provides the sound.

The earliest meaning of 凍 is literal — "water solidifying due to cold."

From this, meanings expanded naturally to:

- bodily numbness from cold

- emotional or social rigidity

- suspension or immobilization

동결 (凍結) — freezing; freeze (also figurative: asset freeze)

냉동 (冷凍) — refrigeration; freezing

해동 (解凍) — thawing

동사 (凍死) — death by freezing

동상 (凍傷) — frostbite

Related characters:

冰 / 氷 — ice

寒 — cold

冷 — cool; cold

涼 / 凉 — cool

結 — to bind; (combined as 凍結 “freeze solid”)

In Classical Chinese, 凍 frequently appears in descriptions of:

- winter conditions

- bodily suffering from cold

- frozen rivers and lands

Such usage is common in historical prose and poetry describing harsh winters.

In philosophical context cold and freezing are often metaphors for:

- stagnation

- suffering

- deprivation

In Buddhist texts, extreme cold (寒凍) is sometimes contrasted with the “heat” of desire or passion.