iron

English Online Dictionary. What means iron‎? What does iron mean?

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

• (MLE) IPA^(key): /æːn/, /æən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈaɪən/
• (General American) enPR: ī'ərn, IPA^(key): /ˈaɪ(ə)ɹn/
• (dialectal, Canada, Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈaɪɹən/
• Homophone: ion (in some accents only)
• Rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)n

Noun

iron (countable and uncountable, plural irons)

2. (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

   Hypernyms: metal < element; substance; material

   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:iron.
4. (uncountable, countable, metallurgy) Any material, not a steel, predominantly made of elemental iron.

   Hypernyms: metal < substance; material

   Hyponyms: cast iron, ductile iron, gray iron, pig iron, white iron, wrought iron

6. (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

8. Any of several other tools traditionally made of wrought iron, now usually of steel.

   Hypernym: tool

   Hyponyms: pinking iron, plane iron, plough iron, ripping iron, tamping iron, tire iron

9. (usually in the plural, irons) Shackles.

   Hyponym: leg irons

10. (slang) A firearm, either a long gun or a handgun.

    Synonym: shooting iron
11. (uncountable) A dark shade of the color silver.
12. (countable, Cockney rhyming slang, offensive, shortened from iron hoof, rhyming with poof) A male homosexual.

    Synonyms: poof, queer; see also Thesaurus:male homosexual

13. (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
15. (uncountable, figurative) Used as a symbol of great strength or toughness, or to signify a very strong or tough material.

16. (weightlifting) Weight used as resistance for the purpose of strength training.

17. (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.

18. A safety curtain in a theatre.
19. (military, slang) Dumb bombs, those without guidance systems.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Adjective

iron (not comparable)

1. (not comparable) Made of the metal iron.
2. (figuratively) Strong (as of will), inflexible.

   Synonyms: adamant, adamantine, brassbound

Hypernyms

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

Hyponyms

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

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• ferrous, ferric

Verb

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. (intransitive) To engage in such pressing of clothing.

3. (transitive, archaic) To shackle with irons; to fetter or handcuff.
4. (transitive) To furnish, clad, or arm with iron.

Synonyms

• (to pass an iron over): press

Coordinate terms

• (to pass an iron over): mangle

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Japanese: アイロン (airon)
• → Maori: haeana

Translations

See also

Further reading

• iron on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• David Barthelmy (1997–2025) “Iron”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “iron”, in Mindat.org‎^[2], 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

Noun

iron

1. accusative singular of iro

Japanese

Romanization

iron

1. Rōmaji transcription of いろん