# iron
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English iren, from Old English īsern, īsærn, īren, īsen, from Proto-West Germanic *īsarn, from Proto-Germanic *īsarną (“iron”), from Proto-Celtic *īsarnom (“iron”), a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésh₂r̥ (“blood”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈaɪən/
* (General American) enPR: ī'ərn, IPA: /ˈaɪ(ə)ɹn/
* (dialectal, Canada, Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA: /ˈaɪɹən/
* Audio (General American):(file)
* Homophone: ion (in some accents only)
* Rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)n

### Noun

iron (countable and uncountable, plural irons)
* (uncountable) A common, inexpensive metal, silvery grey when untarnished, that rusts, is attracted by magnets, and is used in making steel: a chemical element having atomic number 26 and symbol Fe.
    Synonym: ferrum
** For quotations using this term, see Citations:iron.
* (uncountable, countable, metallurgy) Any material, not a steel, predominantly made of elemental iron.
    wrought iron, ductile iron, cast iron, pig iron, gray iron
* (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.
    Synonyms: clothes iron, flatiron, smoothing iron
    Hyponyms: box iron, charcoal iron, steam iron
    Coordinate terms: clothes press, mangle
* (usually in the plural, irons) Shackles.
    Hyponym: leg irons
* (slang) A firearm, either a long gun or a handgun.
    Synonym: shooting iron
** 1948, John Huston, Treasure of the Sierra Madre:Ah, throw that old iron over here! We'll pick it up and go on our way.
** 1959, Marty Robbins (lyrics and music), “Big Iron”:the stranger there among them had a big iron on his hip
* (uncountable) A dark shade of the color silver.
* (countable, Cockney rhyming slang, offensive, shortened from iron hoof, rhyming with poof) A male homosexual.
    Synonyms: poof, queer; see also Thesaurus:male homosexual
* (golf) A golf club used for middle-distance shots.
    Hyponyms: driving iron, long iron, short iron, 1-iron, 2-iron, 3-iron, 4-iron, 5-iron, 6-iron, 7-iron, 8-iron, 9-iron
** 1902, Robert Marshall Grade, The Haunted Major:The brassey much resembled the driver, but the iron opened out quite a new field of practice; […]
* (uncountable, figurative) Used as a symbol of great strength or toughness, or to signify a very strong or tough material.
    ironman; a will of iron
    He appeared easygoing, but inside he was pure iron.
* (weightlifting) Weight used as resistance for the purpose of strength training.
    He lifts iron on the weekends.
* (countable, astronomy, geology) A meteorite consisting primarily of metallic iron (mixed with a small amount of nickel), as opposed to one composed mainly of stony material.
    Irons and stony irons can be much larger than stony meteorites and are much more visually striking, but make up only a few percent of all meteorites.
* A safety curtain in a theatre.
* (military, slang) Dumb bombs, those without guidance systems.

#### Derived terms

* alpha iron
* angle iron
* arsenical iron
* bad iron
* balling-iron
* bar iron
* barking iron
* beak-iron
* beck-iron
* Berlin iron
* Bessemer iron
* beta iron
* bick-iron
* big iron
* black iron
* bloomery iron
* bog iron
* bog iron ore
* boom-iron
* box iron
* branding iron
* brand-iron
* bridle iron
* calking iron
* cast iron
* cast-iron
* cast-iron stomach
* caulking iron
* chromate of iron
* chrome iron
* chrome iron ore
* chromic iron
* climbing iron
* cold iron
* copper-iron
* corrugated iron
* cramp iron
* cramp-iron
* crance iron
* cranse iron
* crimping iron
* crisping iron
* croze iron
* curling iron
* delta iron
* draw iron
* ductile iron
* electric iron
* epsilon iron
* fire iron
* firing iron
* flatiron
* flat iron
* flat iron steak
* fresh off the irons
* gal-iron
* galvanised iron
* galvanized iron
* gamma-iron
* gamma iron
* gammon iron
* gob iron
* goose iron
* grab iron
* grappling iron
* gray iron
* grozing iron
* hack-iron
* hair iron
* hard as iron
* harping iron
* have too many irons in the fire
* hawser iron
* horse iron
* hot iron test
* in iron
* in irons
* iron-54
* iron-56
* iron-57
* iron-58
* iron age
* Iron Age
* iron alum
* iron bacterium
* iron band
* ironbark
* iron-bind
* iron-binding
* iron bird
* iron bloom
* iron-blue
* iron blue
* iron-blue fly
* iron bomb
* Ironbottom Sound
* ironbound
* iron brew
* Ironbridge
* iron buff
* iron butterfly
* iron cage
* iron carbide
* iron-cased
* iron cement
* iron chloride
* iron-clad
* ironclad
* iron clay
* iron cloth
* iron condor
* Iron County
* iron cross
* iron curtain
* Iron Curtain
* iron deficiency
* iron-deficient
* iron eagle
* ironed
* iron fall
* ironfield
* iron filings
* iron fist
* iron flint
* iron-founder
* iron-founding
* iron foundry
* iron-free
* iron-gall ink
* iron game
* iron gang
* Iron Gates
* iron glance
* iron grass
* iron-gray
* iron gray
* iron-grey
* iron group
* iron handed
* iron-handed
* iron-handedly
* iron handedly
* iron handedness
* iron-handedness
* iron-hard
* iron harvest
* iron hat
* iron-headed
* ironheads
* ironheart
* iron-hearted
* iron-heartedness
* iron heater
* iron heel
* iron hoof
* iron horse
* iron house
* iron hydroxide
* iron(III) chloride
* iron(III) oxide
* iron iodide
* ironish
* iron lady
* ironless
* iron liquor
* iron loss
* iron maid
* iron maiden
* iron-maker
* iron-making
* iron-manganese tungstate
* iron man, ironman
* iron mask
* ironmaster
* iron meteorite
* Iron Mike
* iron mine
* iron-miner
* iron mining
* iron mold
* ironmonger
* ironmongery
* iron monticellite
* iron-montmorillonite
* iron mould
* iron mountain
* Iron Mountain
* ironness
* iron ore
* iron oxide
* iron pan
* iron period
* iron phosphate
* iron-plated
* iron play
* iron player
* iron protoxide
* iron pyrite
* iron pyrites
* Iron Range
* iron ration
* iron rice bowl
* iron ring
* iron road
* iron saffron
* iron salt
* iron sand, ironsand
* iron saw
* iron scale
* iron-shod
* ironshot, iron-shot
* iron shrub
* iron-sick
* Ironside
* iron-sided
* Ironsides
* iron smelting
* ironsmith
* iron sponge
* Iron Springs
* iron stain
* iron stand
* ironstone
* iron strap
* iron sulfate
* iron sulfide
* iron-sulfur cluster
* iron-sulfur protein
* iron sulphate
* iron sulphide
* iron-sulphur cluster
* iron-sulphur protein
* Ironton
* iron-tree
* iron triangle
* iron tribromide
* iron trichloride
* iron tungstate
* Ironville
* iron virgin
* iron vitriol
* ironware
* ironweed
* ironwood
* ironwork
* ironwort
* irony
* iron yellow
* Italian iron
* jagging iron
* lamp-iron
* leg iron
* leg irons
* lily iron
* lofting iron
* making-iron
* malleable iron
* mashie iron
* meaking iron
* meteoric iron
* meteoritic iron
* midiron
* mid-iron
* motley iron
* nickel-iron
* passive iron
* pie iron
* pig iron
* pinking iron
* plane iron
* plough iron
* plow iron
* pumping iron
* pump iron
* put every iron in the fire
* pyrophoric iron
* Quevenne's iron
* red iron oxide
* riesel iron
* ripping iron
* road iron
* roast iron
* round iron
* rub iron
* rule with a rod of iron
* running iron
* Russia iron
* Russian iron
* sable iron
* sad-iron
* sand iron
* scrap iron
* scribing iron
* searing-iron
* shank-iron
* shaving iron
* sheet iron
* shooting-iron
* silicon iron
* smoothing iron
* snarling-iron
* snarling iron
* soldering iron
* span iron
* sparry iron
* spathic iron
* specular iron
* spiegel iron
* sponge iron
* steam iron
* steely iron
* stirrup iron
* stony iron
* stony-iron
* stretching-iron
* strike the iron while it's hot
* strike while the iron is hot
* stub iron
* sulfate of iron
* sulphate of iron
* sweating iron
* sweet iron
* tamping iron
* tank iron
* telluric iron
* tire iron
* toasting-iron
* toggle iron
* toggle-iron
* too many irons in the fire
* tow-iron
* tow iron
* tramp iron
* tue-iron
* tyre iron
* waffle iron
* wear iron
* white iron
* wouldn't work in an iron lung
* wrought iron
* yttrium iron garnet
* zinc iron

#### Related terms

* andiron
* gridiron

#### Translations
### Adjective

iron (not comparable)
* (not comparable) Made of the metal iron.
* (figuratively) Strong (as of will), inflexible.
    Synonyms: adamant, adamantine, brassbound
    She had an iron will.
    He held on with an iron grip.
    an iron constitution
    Iron men
** 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIV, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 201:[…] the fruit-garden, where every tree and walk had a remembrance—those iron links of affection.
** 1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC, page 64:The faces of the gods are iron and their mouths set hard. There is no hope from the gods.
** 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.
** 2022 October 5, Rowena Mason, quoting Liz Truss, “Liz Truss promises ‘growth, growth and growth’ in protest-hit speech”, in The Guardian‎:But in her speech, Truss said she would exert an “iron discipline” over public spending, hinting at possible austerity to come. “I believe in sound money and a lean state,” she said.

#### Hypernyms

* (made of the metal iron): metal, metallic

#### Hyponyms

* (made of the metal iron): wrought-iron

#### Derived terms

* iron cap
* iron chink
* Iron Cross
* Iron Curtain
* Iron Duke
* iron-faced
* iron-fisted
* Iron Guard
* iron gum
* iron gum tree
* iron hand
* iron horse
* iron jubilee
* Iron Lady
* iron law
* iron lung
* ironly
* iron mike
* iron oak
* iron paper
* iron sleep
* iron slumber
* iron walls
* iron wedding
* iron-willed
* iron-witted
* iron-worded

#### See also

* ferrous, ferric

### Verb

iron (third-person singular simple present irons, present participle ironing, simple past and past participle ironed)
* (transitive) To pass an iron over (clothing or some other item made of cloth) in order to remove creases.
    You'd be wise to iron that shirt before you wear it.
** 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 30:Out of that tub had come the day before - Tess felt it with a dreadful sting of remorse - the very white frock upon her back which she had so carelessly greened about the skirt on the damping grass - which had been wrung up and ironed by her mother's own hands.
* (intransitive) To engage in such pressing of clothing.
    They were washing and ironing all morning.
* (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?
* (transitive) To furnish, clad, or arm with iron.
    to iron a wagon

#### Synonyms

* (to pass an iron over): press

#### Coordinate terms

* (to pass an iron over): mangle

#### Derived terms

* ironer
* ironing
* iron-on
* iron out
* non-iron
* unironed

#### Descendants

* → Japanese: アイロン (airon)

#### Translations
### See also

* cementite
* colcothar
* ferrate
* ferratin
* ferredoxin
* ferretto
* ferrimagnetism
* ferrite
* ferritin
* ferronerie
* ferronière
* ferronnerie
* ferronnière
* Flores martis
* haem
* haematite
* haemochromatosis
* hematite
* heme
* hemochromatosis
* magnetite
* molysite
* nife
* Prussian blue
* rust
* steel
* synthetic maghemite
* wustite
* wüstite

### Further reading

* iron on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* David Barthelmy (1997–2025) “Iron”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
* “iron”, in Mindat.org‎, Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2025.
* “iron (hoof) n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present

### Anagrams

* Orin, RINO, Rion, inro, inrō, noir, nori, roin

## Esperanto
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

iron
* accusative singular of iro

## Japanese
### Romanization

iron
* Rōmaji transcription of いろん