This is the Chinese radical for "ice". It's one of the simplest radicals consisting of only two strokes, but using it can add important meaning to a character. Below are some examples of characters that use this radical, each of which adopt the meaning of 'cold'.
A radical doesn't always allude to the meaning of the character - Sometimes it just hints at the pronunciation, and other times its usage is not immediately clear. In any case, learning radicals will help you understand how characters are built up from smaller parts and are not the scary, complicated structures, you once thought.
Also, if a radical was simplified then we show both original radical form and the Simplified versions! You can focus on what's important to you, or widen your knowledge of Chinese characters even further.
If you're not sure what this means right now, don't worry. As your Chinese improves and you understand more about the differences between Simplified and Traditional Chinese - we've got you covered.
