鍊

See also: 錬, 煉, and 練

鍊 U+934A, 鍊 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-934A ← 鍉 [U+9349] CJK Unified Ideographs 鍋 → [U+934B]

鍊 U+F99B, 鍊 CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-F99B ← 連 [U+F99A] CJK Compatibility Ideographs 列 → [U+F99C]

Translingual

Traditional	鍊
Shinjitai	錬
Simplified	炼

Han character

鍊 (Kangxi radical 167, 金+9, 17 strokes, cangjie input 金木田火 (CDWF), four-corner 8519₆, composition ⿰釒柬)

Derived characters

• 𡄮

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1313, character 9
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 40602
• Dae Jaweon: page 1814, character 5
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 4228, character 14
• Unihan data for U+934A

• Unihan data for U+F99B

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 鍊
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script

Characters in the same phonetic series (柬) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
蘭	*ɡ·raːn
攔	*ɡ·raːn
欄	*ɡ·raːn
瀾	*ɡ·raːn, *ɡ·raːns
讕	*ɡ·raːn, *ɡ·raːnʔ, *ɡ·raːns
闌	*ɡ·raːn
韊	*ɡ·raːn
幱	*ɡ·raːn
籣	*ɡ·raːn
躝	*ɡ·raːn
爛	*ɡ·raːns
爤	*ɡ·raːns
鑭	*ɡ·raːns
糷	*ɡ·raːns
斕	*ɡ·reːn
揀	*kreːnʔ, *ɡ·reːns
柬	*kreːnʔ
暕	*kreːnʔ
諫	*kraːns
練	*ɡ·reːns
鍊	*ɡ·reːns
煉	*ɡ·reːns
楝	*ɡ·reːns
萰	*ɡ·reːns
堜	*ɡ·reːns
湅	*ɡ·reːns

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *ɡ·reːns): semantic 金 (“metal”) + phonetic 柬 (OC *kreːnʔ).

Etymology 1

trad.		鍊
simp.		炼*
nonstandard simp.		𫔀
alternative forms		煉／炼 especially for figurative meanings 錬

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): liàn (lian⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄧㄢˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lin⁶
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): lien

  (Hailu, HRS): lien^˖

  (Meixian, Guangdong): liên⁴

• Eastern Min (BUC): liêng
• Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): loeng⁵ / lyoeng⁵
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): liān

  (Teochew, Peng'im): liêng⁷

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶li

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: liàn
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄧㄢˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: liàn
    • Wade–Giles: lien⁴
    • Yale: lyàn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: liann
    • Palladius: лянь (ljanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /li̯ɛn⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: lin⁶
    • Yale: lihn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: lin⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: lin⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /liːn²²/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: lien
    • Hakka Romanization System: lien
    • Hagfa Pinyim: lian⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /li̯en⁵⁵/
  • (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
    • Hakka Romanization System: lien^˖
    • Sinological IPA: /lien³³/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: liên⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /liɛn⁵³/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: liêng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /l̃iɛŋ²⁴²/
• Puxian Min
  • (Putian)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: loeng⁵
    • Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: lē̤ng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lœŋ¹¹/
  • (Xianyou)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: lyoeng⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lyøŋ²¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Jinjiang, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: liān
    • Tâi-lô: liān
    • Phofsit Daibuun: lien
    • Sinological IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /liɛn²²/
    • Sinological IPA (Quanzhou, Jinjiang): /liɛn⁴¹/
    • Sinological IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /liɛn³³/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: liêng⁷
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: liēng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lieŋ¹¹/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁶li
    • MiniDict: li^去
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³li
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /li²³/

---

• Middle Chinese: lenH

Rime
Character	鍊
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	來 (37)
Final (韻)	先 (85)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	IV
Fanqie	郎甸切
Baxter	lenH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/lenH/
Pan Wuyun	/lenH/
Shao Rongfen	/lɛnH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/lɛnH/
Li Rong	/lenH/
Wang Li	/lienH/
Bernhard Karlgren	/lienH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	liàn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	lin6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[r]ˤen-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɡ·reːns/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	鍊
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	liàn
Middle Chinese	‹ lenH ›
Old Chinese	/*[r]ˁen-s/
English	refine (metal)
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	鍊
Reading #	1/1
No.	6142
Phonetic component	柬
Rime group	元
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	練
Old Chinese	/*ɡ·reːns/

Definitions

鍊

1. to smelt; to refine
2. (figurative) to measure (one's words); to polish (one's wording)
3. (figurative) to temper; to steel; to cultivate
4. a surname

Compounds

• 千錘百鍊 / 千锤百炼 (qiānchuíbǎiliàn)
• 洗鍊 / 洗炼 (xǐliàn)
• 淬鍊 / 淬炼 (cuìliàn)
• 燒丹鍊汞 / 烧丹炼汞
• 百鍊之鋼 / 百炼之钢
• 百鍊剛 / 百炼刚
• 百鍊成鋼 / 百炼成钢 (bǎiliànchénggāng)
• 百鍊金 / 百炼金
• 百鍊鋼 / 百炼钢
• 百鍊鐵 / 百炼铁
• 磨鍊 / 磨炼 (móliàn)
• 精鍊 / 精炼 (jīngliàn)
• 細鍊 / 细炼
• 肘手鍊足 / 肘手炼足
• 錘鍊 / 锤炼 (chuíliàn)
• 鍊丹 / 炼丹 (liàndān)
• 鍊冶 / 炼冶
• 鍊句 / 炼句
• 鍊字 / 炼字
• 鍊師 / 炼师
• 鍊度 / 炼度
• 鍊形 / 炼形
• 鍊氣 / 炼气
• 鍊氣士 / 炼气士
• 鍊石補天 / 炼石补天
• 鍊貧 / 炼贫
• 鍊金 / 炼金
• 鍊金術 / 炼金术 (liànjīnshù)
• 鍛鍊 / 锻炼 (duànliàn)
• 闖鍊 / 闯炼
• 陳鍊 / 陈炼

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 鍊 – see 鏈 (“chain; wire; cable; chain; shack; etc.”). (This character is a variant form of 鏈).

Japanese

Shinjitai	錬
Kyūjitai	鍊

Kanji

鍊

(Jinmeiyō kanji, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 錬)

1. to smelt (metals)
2. to forge
3. to refine

Readings

• On (unclassified): れん (ren)
• Kun: ねる (neru, 鍊る)

Korean

Hanja

鍊 (eumhun 불릴 련 (bullil ryeon), word-initial (South Korea) 불릴 연 (bullil yeon))

1. hanja form^? of 련/연 (“smelt metals, forge”)
2. hanja form^? of 련/연 (“refine”)

Compounds

• 단련 (鍛鍊, dallyeon)
• 훈련 (訓鍊, hullyeon)

Vietnamese

Han character

鍊: Hán Nôm readings: luyện, rèn, rén

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.