冷冻
lěng dòng · HSK 7
to freeze
🧊❄️ 冷 cold + 冻 frozen = cold-freeze, i.e. to deep-freeze
冷 lěng is the everyday word for cold; 冻 dòng means to freeze or congeal. Stacked together they mean to deep-freeze. Note 冻 carries the 冫 two-stroke ice radical, the same cold marker seen in 冷.
冷 — ice radical 冫 + order 令
A semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 冫 (ice) supplies the meaning of coldness, while 令 (lìng, 'command/order') hints at the pronunciation. Originally referring to the chill of ice, 冷 broadened to mean cold in general, and figuratively cool, indifferent, or detached.
冻 — ice radical 冫 + east 东
A semantic-phonetic compound. The ice radical 冫 supplies the meaning 'freeze/cold,' while 东 (dōng) gives the sound. The traditional form is 凍; 东 is the simplified version of the phonetic 東. Core sense: to freeze or congeal.