冬季
dōng jì · HSK 4
winter
❄️ 冬季 = 冬 (winter) + 季 (season)
冬 dōng is the character for winter; 季 jì means season or quarter of the year. Together they form the compound noun for the winter season, parallel to 春季 spring, 夏季 summer, 秋季 autumn.
季 — grain 禾 on top + child 子 below
Originally an associative compound showing young grain (禾) and a child (子), suggesting a young or immature crop. From this it came to mean 'youngest' among siblings, then a season or quarter of the year — a recurring period like a harvest cycle. Today it mostly means 'season' or a surname.