铁 (tiě): iron
铁 (tiě) is a Chinese character meaning “iron.” Classified as HSK Level 2 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 钅 (semantic) and 失 (phonetic). It ranks #779 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 铁 metal. Its radical form 钅 (metal) appears in many related characters such as 钱 (qián, money), 错 (cuò, wrong, mistake), 钟 (zhōng, clock, bell).
Definitions
- iron
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 铁 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 铁
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 地铁noun | dì tiě | underground railway | 2 |
| 高铁noun | gāo tiě | high speed rail | 3 |
| 铁路noun | tiě lù | railroad | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 钢铁noun | gāng tiě | steel |
| 铁轨noun | tiě guǐ | rail |
| 地铁站noun | dì tiě zhàn | subway station |
| 铁匠noun | tiě jiang | blacksmith |
| 铁链noun | tiě liàn | iron chain |
| 铁木真proper-noun | tiě mù zhēn | Temujin, birth name of Genghis Khan 成吉思汗 |
| 磁铁noun | cí tiě | magnet |
| 铁丝网noun | tiě sī wǎng | wire netting |
| 手无寸铁phrase | shǒu wú cùn tiě | lit. not an inch of steel (idiom) |
| 铁石心肠phrase | tiě shí xīn cháng | to have a heart of stone |
| 铁证noun | tiě zhèng | ironclad evidence |
| 铁锹noun | tiě qiāo | spade |
| 滑铁卢proper-noun | huá tiě lú | Waterloo (Belgium) |
| 铁丝noun | tiě sī | iron wire |
| 铁塔noun | tiě tǎ | iron tower |
铁 appears in 102 compound words: 68 as the first character, 30 as the last, and 2 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 铁 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (23)
metal scrap; useless rusty metal objects; anything that is broken and useless; junk
Showing 12 of 23 idioms containing 铁.
Example Sentences
这座桥是用钢铁建造的，可以承受很大的重量。
Zhè zuò qiáo shì yòng gāngtiě jiànzào de, kěyǐ chéngshòu hěn dà de zhòngliàng.
This bridge is built of steel and can bear very heavy weights.
超商换冰拿铁“店员跳针狂问2字”真相曝
chāo shāng huàn bīng ná tiě diàn yuán tiào zhēn kuáng wèn 2 zì zhēn xiāng pù
The truth of the supermarket changing ice latte "the clerk jumped the needle and asked 2 words" was exposed
和首都女铁骑,做一天朋友
hé shǒu dū nǚ tiě qí , zuò yī tiān péng yǒu
I'll be friends for a day with the Capital Rangers.
马年新春第一班,武汉95后高铁司机的“飞驰人生”
mǎ nián xīn chūn dì yī bān , wǔ hàn hòu gāo tiě sī jī de fēi chí rén shēng
The first shift in the New Year of the Horse, Wuhan 95 high-speed train driver's "flying life".
浙江男子铁锅里泡澡,底下还烧着火,一个接一个!杭州...
zhè jiāng nán zǐ tiě guō lǐ pāo zǎo , de xià hái shāo zhe huǒ , yī gě jiē yī gě ! háng zhōu . . .
Zhejiang man in the iron pot bath, underneath the fire, one after another! Hangzhou ...
俄罗斯莫斯科地铁举行中国春节主题列车发车仪式
é luó sī mò sī kē dì tiě jǔ háng zhōng guó chūn jié zhǔ tí liè chē fā chē yí shì
Moscow Metro Holds Launch Ceremony for Chinese New Year-Themed Train
不好意思，请问这条路通往地铁站吗？
Bù hǎoyìsi, qǐngwèn zhè tiáo lù tōngwǎng dìtiězhàn ma?
Excuse me, but is this the right way to the subway station?
这儿要换地铁和轻轨方便吗？
Zhèr yào huàn dìtiě hé qīngguǐ fāngbiàn ma?
Is it convenient to transfer between the subway and the light rail here?
地铁站的附近有银行吗？
Dìtiězhàn de fùjìn yǒu yínháng ma?
Is there a bank near the station?
最近的地铁站在哪里？
Zuì jìn de dìtiězhàn zài nǎlǐ?
Where is the closest metro stop?
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 钅 (metal) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 铁 (tiě) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 铁 and 秩?
How many strokes does 铁 have?
What is the radical of 铁?
What are the components of 铁?
What are common words containing 铁?
What characters sound the same as 铁 (tiě)?
Is 铁 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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