Pronunciation guide
How to pronounce iron
EYE-ern (US) or EYE-un (UK); the vowel sounds come before the 'r', not after
US/ˈaɪɚn/
aɪɚn
UK/ˈaɪən/
aɪən
New to IPA symbols? Read the IPA guide.
Common mistake
It is 'EYE-ern', never 'eye-RON' - the 'r' effectively moves ahead of the 'o'.
What “iron” 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.
Any material, not a steel, predominantly made of elemental iron.
In a sentence
- Iron rusts when it is left out in the rain.
- The gate was made of heavy wrought iron.
Definitions and examples are derived from Wiktionary, used under CC BY-SA 4.0, then edited by QuickPronounce. Pronunciation data draws on CMUdict.