铁 (tiě) — iron (metal); (literary) arms, weapons; (adjective) hard, strong, unyielding; (slang) close, tight (of relationships)
Definition
Literary for 'weapons' (as in 武装); as an adjective, a fixed metaphor for 'iron-like' resolve — stronger and more literary than 坚决 or 强硬.
noun
iron (metal)(literary) armsweapons
adjective
hardstrongunyielding(slang) closetight (of relationships)
Measure word · 块
Easily confused
Examples
- 。Zhè piàn shān qū yǒu fēng fù de tiě kuàng zī yuán.This mountain area has abundant iron ore resources.
- ，铁。Tā xìng gé gāng qiáng, rú tiě yì bān.His character is tough, like iron.
- ，铁。Wǒ men liǎ rèn shi shí nián le, guān xì tè bié tiě.We've known each other for ten years; our relationship is very close.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
This origin belongs to the traditional form 鐵; 铁 is its simplified writing.
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢧤
𢧤𢧤鐵tiě
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.
The traditional form 鐵 pairs 金 (metal) with 𢧤 as a sound part; the simplified 铁 is a later shorthand.
Appears in
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