King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “freeze”

Romaji: kooru
to freeze; to become frozen; to freeze over

In Japanese, freeze is , read (kooru).

Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.

Meanings

  1. v5r, vi to freeze; to become frozen; to freeze over

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

frozen, congeal, refrigerate
on: トウ
kun: こお.る、こご.える、こご.る、い.てる
10 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “freeze”

WordReadingMeaning
かためる katameruto harden; to freeze; to strengthen
こごえる kogoeruto freeze (of one's body); to be frozen; to become numb (with cold)
かたまる katamaruto freeze; to hang; to stop responding
こおりつく kooritsukuto freeze (to something); to be frozen (to)
いてつく itetsukuto freeze

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
とうけつ touketsufreezing (e.g. water)
れいとう reitoufreezing; cold storage; refrigeration
とうし toushideath from cold; freezing to death
かいとう kaitouthawing; defrosting
れいとうこ reitoukofreezer

See also: Chinese symbol for “freeze”.

Data: JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.