鉄

See also: 鐵

Translingual

Traditional	鐵
Shinjitai	鉄
Simplified	铁

Han character

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

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1300, character 14
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 40285
• Dae Jaweon: page 1802, character 26
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 4186, character 14
• Unihan data for U+9244

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Chinese

Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声) : semantic 釒 + phonetic 失 (OC *hliɡ).

Etymology 1

For pronunciation and definitions of 鉄 – see 鐵 (“iron; railway; etc.”). (This character is the former (1969–1976) Singaporean simplified and variant form of 鐵).

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 鉄 – see 紩 (“to sew”). (This character is a variant form of 紩).

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Japanese

Shinjitai	鉄
Kyūjitai	鐵

Kanji

鉄

(Third grade kyōiku kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 鐵)

1. iron

Readings

• Go-on: てち (techi)
• Kan-on: てつ (tetsu, Jōyō)
• Kun: くろがね (kurogane, 鉄); かね (kane, 鉄)
• Nanori: けん (ken); てつ (tetsu)

Compounds

Compounds

• 鉄扇(てっせん) (tessen): A Japanese war fan
• 地下(ちか)鉄(てつ) (chikatetsu): subway, underground railway

Etymology 1

Chemical element
Fe
Previous: マンガン (mangan) (Mn)
Next: コバルト (kobaruto) (Co)

Kanji in this term
鉄
てつ Grade: 3
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
鐵 (kyūjitai)

Borrowed from Middle Chinese 鐵 (MC thet, “iron”). Compare modern (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Mandarin reading tiě, (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Hakka thiet.

Noun

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(てつ)は熱(あつ)いうちに打(う)て (tetsu wa atsui uchi ni ute): “strike while the iron is hot”

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
鉄
くろがね Grade: 3
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
鐵 (kyūjitai)

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

Alternative forms

• 黒金

Noun

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

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
鉄
かね Grade: 3
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
鐵 (kyūjitai)

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] 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.

Alternative forms

• 金, 銀, 銅

Noun

1. Alternative spelling of 金 (“metal; money”)

Usage notes

The 金 spelling is the most common for this term.