iron

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See also: irón

English[edit]

A pot of melted raw iron.

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English iren, from Old English īsern, īsærn, īren, īsen, from Proto-Germanic *īsarną (compare Dutch ijzer, West Frisian izer, German Eisen, Danish jern), from Gaulish īsarno-, from Proto-Celtic *īsarnom (compare Welsh haearn, Irish iarann), a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésh₂r̥ (“blood”) (compare Hittite 𒂊𒌍𒄯 (ēšḫar), Tocharian A ysār, Latvian asinis, Ancient Greek ἔαρ (éar), Old Armenian արիւն (ariwn), Sanskrit असृज् (asṛj)).[1][2] The sense development runs from 'bloody' to 'blood red' to 'ruddy metal'.

Pronunciation[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
The position of the element iron in the periodic table, and its structure.
Chemical element
Fe Previous: manganese (Mn)
Next: cobalt (Co)
An electric clothes iron.

Noun[edit]

iron (countable and uncountable, plural irons)

  2. (uncountable) A common, inexpensive metal, often black in color, that rusts, is attracted by magnets, and is used in making steel.
  3. (uncountable, physics, chemistry, metallurgy) A metallic chemical element having atomic number 26 and symbol Fe.
  4. (uncountable, countable, metallurgy) Any material, not a steel, predominantly made of elemental iron.
    wrought iron, ductile iron, cast iron, pig iron, gray iron
  5. (countable) A tool or appliance made of metal, which is heated and then used to transfer heat to something else; most often a thick piece of metal fitted with a handle and having a flat, roughly triangular bottom, which is heated and used to press wrinkles from clothing, and now usually containing an electrical heating apparatus.
  6. (usually plural, irons) Shackles.
  7. (slang) A handgun.
  8. (uncountable) A dark shade of the colour/color silver.
  9. (Cockney rhyming slang, shortened from iron hoof, rhyming with poof; countable, offensive) A male homosexual.
  10. (golf) A golf club used for middle-distance shots.
  11. (uncountable) Great strength or power.

Quotations[edit]

Synonyms[edit]

Hypernyms[edit]

Hyponyms[edit]

Meronyms[edit]

Holonyms[edit]

  • (metallic chemical element): molecule (sometimes)

Coordinate terms[edit]

  • (tool for pressing clothing): mangle

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from iron

Related terms[edit]

Terms related to iron

Translations[edit]

See iron/translations § Noun.

Adjective[edit]

iron (not comparable)

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
  1. (not comparable) Made of the metal iron.
  2. (figuratively) Strong (as of will), inflexible.
    • 1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:
      And it is symptomatic of the many paradoxes of Lederer's life that of all the people in the room, Brotherhood is the one whom he would most wish to serve, if ever he had the opportunity, even though — or perhaps because — his occasional efforts to ingratiate himself with his adopted hero have met with iron rebuff.
    She had an iron will.
    He held on with an iron grip.
    an iron constitution
    Iron men
    Synonyms: adamant, adamantine, brassbound

Hypernyms[edit]

Hyponyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from adjective "iron"

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Verb[edit]

iron (third-person singular simple present irons, present participle ironing, simple past and past participle ironed)

  1. (transitive) To pass an iron over (clothing or some other item made of cloth) in order to remove creases.
  2. (transitive, archaic) To shackle with irons; to fetter or handcuff.
    • 1814, Walter Scott, Waverley:
      [...] is it he who is ironed like a malefactor—who is to be dragged on a hurdle to the common gallows—to die a lingering and cruel death, and to be mangled by the hand of the most outcast of wretches?
  3. (transitive) To furnish or arm with iron.
    to iron a wagon

Synonyms[edit]

  • (to pass an iron over): press

Coordinate terms[edit]

  • (to pass an iron over): mangle

Derived terms[edit]

Terms related to iron

Descendants[edit]

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

See also

Further reading[edit]

  • “Iron” in David Barthelmy, Webmineral Mineralogy Database[1], 1997–.
  • “iron”, in Mindat.org‎[2], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, accessed 29 August 2016.
  1. ^ Donald A. Ringe, From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (Oxford: Oxford, 2006), 296.
  2. ^ J.P. Mallory and Douglas Q. Adams, Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, s.v. "blood" (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999).

Anagrams[edit]

Esperanto[edit]

Noun[edit]

iron

  1. accusative singular of iro

Japanese[edit]

Romanization[edit]

iron

  1. Rōmaji transcription of いろん
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