Etymology

iron

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Today it means: 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. Full definition →

Middle English iren ← Old English īren ← Proto-West Germanic *īsarn
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iron · noun, adjective, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁ēsh₂r̥no-der.?
  2. Proto-Celtic*īsarnom
  3. Proto-Germanic*īsarną
  4. Proto-West Germanic*īsarn
  5. Old Englishīsern
  6. Old Englishīren
  7. Middle Englishiren
  8. English todayiron

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”).

Iron · proper noun2

  1. Arabic · calque ofحديد“iron”
  2. English todayIron

Translation of the Arabic حديد (ḥadīd, “iron”).

Iron · proper noun, adjective3

  1. os · borrowed fromИрон
  2. Proto-Indo-Iranian · derived from*wiHrā́s
  3. os · borrowed fromИрӕ
  4. Proto-Indo-Iranian · derived from*wiHrás
  5. os · borrowed fromИр
  6. Proto-Indo-Iranian · derived from*-ānaHam
  7. os · derived from-он
  8. os · borrowed fromИрон
  9. English todayIron

From Ossetian Ирон (Iron), a derivation (with the adjective suffix Ossetian -он (-on) from the historical genitive plural Proto-Indo-Iranian *-ānaHam) of Ossetian Ир (Ir). Ossetian Ир (Ir) probably reflexes Proto-Indo-Iranian *wiHrás. Because the Digoron ethnonym for the Ir is Ossetian Ирӕ (Iræ), Cheung (2002) has suggested a derivation from the plural Proto-Indo-Iranian *wiHrā́s. Ossetian Ирон (Iron) is unrelated to Iran despite the superficial similarity in form. Borrowed into the Vainakh languages (and some Dagestani languages) as their exonym for the Ossetes, cf. Chechen Хӏири (Hiri), Ingush Хӏире (Hire).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.