鉄

See also: 鐵

鉄 U+9244, 鉄 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-9244 ← 鉃 [U+9243] CJK Unified Ideographs 鉅 → [U+9245]

Translingual

Stroke order

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 金 + phonetic 失 (OC *hliɡ).

Etymology 1

For pronunciation and definitions of 鉄 – see 鐵 (“iron; railway; etc.”). (This character is the former (1935–1936) ROC simplified, 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).

References

• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A04354-003
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), B03350-001

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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(てっ)扇(せん) (tessen): A Japanese war fan
• 地(ち)下(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 Mandarin reading tiě, 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)
7. short for 鉄道 (tetsudō, “railway”)

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)

For pronunciation and definitions of 鉄 – see the following entry.

【金かね】1 [noun] metal [noun] (impolite) Clipping of お金 (okane): money [noun] (colloquial) Short for 曲尺 (kanejaku): a carpenter’s square [noun] (colloquial) Short for 金物 (kanamono) or 金具 (kanagu): metal fittings [noun] Short for 金性 (kaneshō): fineness of gold metal, compare English karat [noun] Synonym of 金箔 (kinpaku): gold leaf Alternative spellings 銀, 銅

(This term, 鉄, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)