鉄

See also 鐵, and 铁

Translingual

shinjitai	鉄
simplified	铁
traditional	鐵

Alternative forms

• 銕
• 鐡
• 鋨
• 锇
• 鉃

Han character

鉄 (radical 167 金+5, 13 strokes, cangjie input 金竹手人 (CHQO), composition ⿰金失)

1. iron, Fe
2. strong, solid, firm

References

• KangXi: page 1300, character 14
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 40285
• Dae Jaweon: page 1802, character 26
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 6, page 4186, character 14
• Unihan data for U+9244

---

Japanese

Kanji

鉄 (grade 3 “Kyōiku” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 鐵)

1. iron

Readings

• Go'on: てち, (techi)
• Kan'on: てつ (tetsu)
• Kun: くろがね (kurogane), かね (kane)
• Nanori: けん (ken), てっ (tetsu)

Compounds

Compounds

鉄扇 (てっせん, tessen): A Japanese War Fan 地下鉄 (ちかてつ, chikatetsu): subway, underground railway

Etymology 1

From Middle Chinese 鐵 (/thet/). Compare modern simplified Mandarin 铁 (tiě).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• IPA: [te̞t͡sɯᵝ], [te̞t͡sɯ̥ᵝ]

Noun

鉄 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai 鐵, hiragana てつ, romaji tetsu)

1. iron, the metal and the metallic chemical element
2. (more generally) steel
3. (figuratively) a blade, a knife, a sword, a weapon
4. (figuratively) something extremely strong
5. short for 鉄色 (tetsu iro, “steely black”)
6. short for 鉄砲 (teppō, literally “cannon”, but in this case, refers to the poisonous fugu blowfish or dishes made from it)

Idioms

• 鉄は熱いうちに打て (てつはあついうちにうて, tetsu wa atsui uchi ni ute): “strike while the iron is hot”

Etymology 2

Compound of 黒 (kuro, “black”) +‎ 金 (kane, “metal”). The kane changes to gane due to rendaku (連濁). Compare the black in English blacksmith.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA: [kɯᵝɺ̠o̞ga̠ne̞], [kɯᵝɺ̠o̞ŋa̠ne̞]

Alternative forms

• 黒金

Noun

鉄 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai 鐵, hiragana くろがね, romaji kurogane)

1. (archaic) iron
2. (figuratively) something extremely strong

Etymology 3

From Old Japanese.

The four kanji spellings of this term, 金 (“gold”), 銀 (“silver”), 銅 (“copper”), and 鉄 (“iron”), hint at the importance of each of these four metals in ancient Japan.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA: [ka̠ne̞]

Alternative forms

• 金, 銀, 銅

Noun

鉄 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai 鐵, hiragana かね, romaji kane)

1. Alternative spelling of 金: metal; money

Usage notes

The 金 spelling is the most common for this term.