寒假
hán jià · HSK 4
winter vacation
❄️🏖️ 寒假 = cold (寒) + vacation/holiday (假)
寒 means cold or wintry; 假 here means holiday or leave (different from its 'false' sense). Together they name the school winter break. Contrast with 暑假 shǔjià, the summer vacation.
假 — person radical 亻 + 叚 (borrow)
假 combines the person radical 亻 with 叚, which originally meant 'to borrow' and provides the sound. The core idea is a person borrowing something, which extended to 'borrowed,' 'not real,' or 'fake.' From there it also developed the meaning 'leave/vacation' (time borrowed away from work).