Translingual

Alternative forms

• 銕
• 鐡
• 鋨
• 锇
• 鉃

Han character

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

References

• KangXi: page 1300, character 14
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 40285
• Dae Jaweon: page 1802, character 26
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 6, page 4186, character 14
• Unihan data for U+9244

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 3 “Kyōiku” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 鐵)

1. iron

Readings

• Goon: てち (techi)
• Kan’on: てつ (tetsu)
• Kun: くろがね (kurogane), かね (kane)
• Nanori: けん (ken), てつ (tetsu)

Compounds

Etymology 1

Borrowing from Middle Chinese 鐵 ‎(/tʰet̚/, “iron”). Compare modern Mandarin reading tiě, Hakka thiet.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• (Tokyo) てつ [tètsú] (Heiban - [0])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [te̞t͡sɯᵝ]

Noun

鉄 ‎(shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 鐵, hiragana てつ, romaji tetsu)

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

Compound of 黒 ‎(kuro, “black”) +‎ 金 ‎(kane, “metal”).^[2][1]The kane changes to gane as an instance of rendaku (連濁). Compare the black in English blacksmith.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) くろがね [kùrógáné] (Heiban - [0])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [kɯᵝɺ̠o̞ɡ̃ã̠ne̞]

Alternative forms

• 黒金

Noun

鉄 ‎(shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 鐵, hiragana くろがね, romaji kurogane)

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

Etymology 3

From Old Japanese.^[2]

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.^[2]

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) かね [kàné] (Heiban - [0])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [kã̠ne̞]

Alternative forms

• 金, 銀, 銅

Noun

鉄 ‎(shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 鐵, hiragana かね, romaji kane)

1. Alternative spelling of 金 metal; money

Usage notes

The 金 spelling is the most common for this term.

References

1. 1 2 3 4 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. 1 2 3 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan