亜鉛

Japanese

Chemical element
Zn
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Next: ガリウム (gariumu) (Ga)

Kanji in this term
亜	鉛
あ Grade: S	えん Grade: S
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
亞鉛 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

First appears in Japanese in the 1713 edition of the 和漢三才図会 (Wakan Sansai Zue, “Illustrated Sino-Japanese Encyclopedia”). Appears to be a Japanese coinage as 亜 (a, “next, sub-”) + 鉛 (en, “lead”, the metal), probably from the way that zinc is often found together with lead in ores. Probably influenced by early Hokkien 倭鉛 / 倭铅 (e-iân), early Mandarin 倭鉛 / 倭铅 (wōqiān, literally “Japanese lead”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) あえん [àéń] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) あえん [áꜜèǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [a̠ẽ̞ɴ]

Noun

亜(あ)鉛(えん) • (aen) 

1. zinc, Zn

Derived terms

• 亜(あ)鉛(えん)華(か) (aenka): zinc white, zinc oxide
• 亜(あ)鉛(えん)鉄(てつ) (aen tetsu): galvanized iron
• 亜(あ)鉛(えん)板(ばん) (aenban): zinc plate
• 亜(あ)鉛(えん)版(ばん) (aenban): zinc etching
• 亜(あ)鉛(えん)末(まつ) (aen matsu): zinc dust
• 亜(あ)鉛(えん)引(び)き (aenbiki): zinc coated
• 亜(あ)鉛(えん)合(ごう)金(きん) (aen gōkin): zinc alloy
• 亜(あ)鉛(えん)中(ちゅう)毒(どく) (aen chūdoku): zinc poisoning
• 亜(あ)鉛(えん)鉄(てっ)板(ぱん) (aen teppan): galvanized sheet iron
• 亜(あ)鉛(えん)凸(とっ)版(ぱん) (aen toppan): photoengraving
• 亜(あ)鉛(えん)華(か)軟(なん)膏(こう) (aen kanankō): zinc oxide ointment
• 塩(えん)化(か)亜(あ)鉛(えん) (enka aen): zinc chloride
• 酵(こう)母(ば)亜(あ)鉛(えん) (kōba aen): zinc yeast
• 酸(さん)化(か)亜(あ)鉛(えん) (sanka aen): zinc oxide
• 硫(りゅう)化(か)亜(あ)鉛(えん) (ryūka aen): zinc sulfide
• 硫(りゅう)酸(さん)亜(あ)鉛(えん) (ryūsan aen): zinc sulfate

References

• “亜鉛”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2025
• 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.