yuánzì Chinese characters of the chemical elements
铁

Iron Fe · 26

tiě

solid metal · period 4, group 8 · d-block

Anatomy

钅 radical 金 jīn
metal → solid metal
+ 失 phonetic =
铁 tiě

Ancient name. Known in China long before modern chemistry; the old character was kept. Named in ancient China

History of the character

Every form found in the sources, from the first missionary chemistry books of the 1850s to the current standards. Hover a dot for the source. Simplified 铁, traditional 鐵.

1850187519001925195019752000antiquitytoday
黑金 hēijīn
antiquity · 古名 · Pre-modern usage — Classical texts (Shuōwén Jiězì, Běncǎo Gāngmù) “black metal” in the Shuōwén Jiězì
鐵 tiě
antiquity · 古名 · Pre-modern usage — Classical texts (Shuōwén Jiězì, Běncǎo Gāngmù)1868 · 格物入門 · Géwù Rùmén (1868) — W. A. P. Martin (丁韙良), Tongwen College1870 · 化學初階 · Huàxué Chūjiē (1870) — John G. Kerr (嘉約翰) & Hé Liǎorán (何瞭然)1871 · 金石識別 · Jīnshí Shíbié (1871) — D. J. MacGowan (瑪高溫) & Huà Héngfāng (華蘅芳)1871 · 化學鑑原 · Huàxué Jiànyuán (1871) — Xú Shòu (徐壽) & John Fryer (傅蘭雅), Jiangnan Arsenal
  1. antiquity 鐵 tiě 古名 Pre-modern usage, Classical texts (Shuōwén Jiězì, Běncǎo Gāngmù)
  2. antiquity 黑金 hēijīn 古名 Pre-modern usage, Classical texts (Shuōwén Jiězì, Běncǎo Gāngmù) “black metal” in the Shuōwén Jiězì
  3. 1868 鐵 格物入門 Géwù Rùmén, W. A. P. Martin (丁韙良), Tongwen College
  4. 1870 鐵 化學初階 Huàxué Chūjiē, John G. Kerr (嘉約翰) & Hé Liǎorán (何瞭然)
  5. 1871 鐵 金石識別 Jīnshí Shíbié, D. J. MacGowan (瑪高溫) & Huà Héngfāng (華蘅芳)
  6. 1871 鐵 化學鑑原 Huàxué Jiànyuán, Xú Shòu (徐壽) & John Fryer (傅蘭雅), Jiangnan Arsenal

Homophones

No other element shares this syllable.

Elsewhere

Japanese 鉄 Korean 철 Vietnamese sắt

Western name from Old English via Middle English īsern; (earlier: īren/īsen); /yren/yron, “holy metal or strong metal”. Compare all

Unicode

U+94C1 in CJK Unified Ideographs