越冬

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 越冬, read えっとう, means spending the winter.
• Basic usage: It is used for migratory birds or plants passing through the winter.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Place
  • In the example, この湖で越冬する means spending the winter at this lake.
  • で marks the place where the winter is spent.
• Causative
  • 植物を室内へ移して越冬させた says that someone moved the plant indoors and had it overwinter there.
  • 越冬させた is a past causative form expressing that someone caused another subject to overwinter.