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iron.

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.

4 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈaɪ.ən/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɑjən/British, Southern, Standard/ˈaɪ.ɚn/General-American/ˈaɪ.ɹən/Canada, Northern-Ireland, Scotland, dialectal
  1. 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.

    uncountable
    Today we studied about metals — including iron — at school.
  2. Any material, not a steel, predominantly made of elemental iron.

    countable · uncountable
  3. 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.

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

    countable · uncountable
  5. Shackles.

    countable · plural-normally · uncountable
  6. A firearm, either a long gun or a handgun.

    countable · slang · uncountable
    It's many niggas now totin' iron.
  7. A dark shade of the color silver.

    uncountable
  8. A male homosexual.

    Cockney · countable · offensive · slang
  9. A golf club used for middle-distance shots.

    countable · uncountable
  10. Used as a symbol of great strength or toughness, or to signify a very strong or tough material.

    figuratively · uncountable
    ironman; a will of iron
    He appeared easygoing, but inside he was pure iron.
  11. Weight used as resistance for the purpose of strength training.

    countable · uncountable
    He lifts iron on the weekends.
  12. A meteorite consisting primarily of metallic iron (mixed with a small amount of nickel), as opposed to one composed mainly of stony material.

    countable
    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.
  13. A safety curtain in a theatre.

    countable · uncountable
  14. A dumb bomb, one without guidance systems.

    countable · slang · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ēsh₂r̥no-der.? Proto-Celtic *īsarnombor. Proto-Germanic *īsarną Proto-West Germanic *īsarn Old English īsern Old English īren Middle English iren English iron 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”), possibly a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésh₂r̥ (“blood”). Cognates Cognate with Scots airn, ern (“iron”), Yola eeren (“iron”), Saterland Frisian Iersen (“iron”), West Frisian izer (“iron”), Bavarian Eisn (“iron”), Cimbrian aizarn (“iron”), Dutch ijzer (“iron”), German, Luxembourgish Eisen (“iron”), German Low German Isen (“iron”), Alemannic German Ise (“iron”), Limburgish iezer (“iron”), Mòcheno aisn (“iron”), Vilamovian ȧjza (“iron”), West Flemish yzer (“iron”), Yiddish אײַזן (ayzn, “iron”), Danish jern, jærn (“iron”), Faroese jarn (“iron”), Icelandic járn (“iron”), Jamtish járn, jáðn (“iron”), Norwegian Bokmål jern (“iron”), Norwegian Nynorsk jarn, jern, jønn (“iron”), Swedish jern, jaͤrn, järn (“iron”), Gothic 𐌴𐌹𐍃𐌰𐍂𐌽 (eisarn, “iron”).

adj/ˈaɪ.ən/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɑjən/British, Southern, Standard/ˈaɪ.ɚn/General-American/ˈaɪ.ɹən/Canada, Northern-Ireland, Scotland, dialectal
  1. Made of the metal iron.

    not-comparable
  2. Strong (as of will), inflexible.

    figuratively · not-comparable
    She had an iron will.
    He held on with an iron grip.
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ēsh₂r̥no-der.? Proto-Celtic *īsarnombor. Proto-Germanic *īsarną Proto-West Germanic *īsarn Old English īsern Old English īren Middle English iren English iron 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”), possibly a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésh₂r̥ (“blood”). Cognates Cognate with Scots airn, ern (“iron”), Yola eeren (“iron”), Saterland Frisian Iersen (“iron”), West Frisian izer (“iron”), Bavarian Eisn (“iron”), Cimbrian aizarn (“iron”), Dutch ijzer (“iron”), German, Luxembourgish Eisen (“iron”), German Low German Isen (“iron”), Alemannic German Ise (“iron”), Limburgish iezer (“iron”), Mòcheno aisn (“iron”), Vilamovian ȧjza (“iron”), West Flemish yzer (“iron”), Yiddish אײַזן (ayzn, “iron”), Danish jern, jærn (“iron”), Faroese jarn (“iron”), Icelandic járn (“iron”), Jamtish járn, jáðn (“iron”), Norwegian Bokmål jern (“iron”), Norwegian Nynorsk jarn, jern, jønn (“iron”), Swedish jern, jaͤrn, järn (“iron”), Gothic 𐌴𐌹𐍃𐌰𐍂𐌽 (eisarn, “iron”).

verb/ˈaɪ.ən/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɑjən/British, Southern, Standard/ˈaɪ.ɚn/General-American/ˈaɪ.ɹən/Canada, Northern-Ireland, Scotland, dialectal
  1. To pass an iron over (clothing or some other item made of cloth) in order to remove creases.

    transitive
    You'd be wise to iron that shirt before you wear it.
  2. To engage in such pressing of clothing.

    intransitive
    They were washing and ironing all morning.
  3. To shackle with irons; to fetter or handcuff.

    archaic · transitive
  4. To furnish, clad, or arm with iron.

    transitive
    to iron a wagon
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ēsh₂r̥no-der.? Proto-Celtic *īsarnombor. Proto-Germanic *īsarną Proto-West Germanic *īsarn Old English īsern Old English īren Middle English iren English iron 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”), possibly a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésh₂r̥ (“blood”). Cognates Cognate with Scots airn, ern (“iron”), Yola eeren (“iron”), Saterland Frisian Iersen (“iron”), West Frisian izer (“iron”), Bavarian Eisn (“iron”), Cimbrian aizarn (“iron”), Dutch ijzer (“iron”), German, Luxembourgish Eisen (“iron”), German Low German Isen (“iron”), Alemannic German Ise (“iron”), Limburgish iezer (“iron”), Mòcheno aisn (“iron”), Vilamovian ȧjza (“iron”), West Flemish yzer (“iron”), Yiddish אײַזן (ayzn, “iron”), Danish jern, jærn (“iron”), Faroese jarn (“iron”), Icelandic járn (“iron”), Jamtish járn, jáðn (“iron”), Norwegian Bokmål jern (“iron”), Norwegian Nynorsk jarn, jern, jønn (“iron”), Swedish jern, jaͤrn, järn (“iron”), Gothic 𐌴𐌹𐍃𐌰𐍂𐌽 (eisarn, “iron”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.