Meaning
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.
Etymology
Origin: Old English
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”).
Synonyms & Antonyms
NYT Puzzle Appearances
Accepted in 23 recorded puzzles:
- 2026-09-09RILNOPU
- 2026-06-20RDGINOW
- 2026-03-19RAIJNOT
- 2026-03-18RAIJNOT
- 2026-03-07RBGINOW
- 2026-01-10RGOMINU
- 2025-11-24OAWRIBN
- 2025-10-09NILOPRU
- 2025-07-21RANLIMO
- 2025-02-20ORANGFI
- 2025-02-05IARNJOT
- 2024-10-03ODRIGNU
+11 earlier appearances in the archive.