鍊

See also: 錬, 煉, and 練

鍊	U+934A, 鍊 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-934A

← 鍉
[U+9349]

CJK Unified Ideographs

鍋 →
[U+934B]

鍊	U+F99B, 鍊 CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-F99B

← 連
[U+F99A]

CJK Compatibility Ideographs

列 →
[U+F99C]

Translingual

Traditional	鍊
Shinjitai	錬
Simplified	炼

Han character

鍊 (Kangxi radical 167, 金+9, 17 strokes, cangjie input 金木田火 (CDWF), four-corner 8519₆, composition ⿰釒柬)

Derived characters

𡄮

References

Kangxi Dictionary: page 1313, character 9
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 40602
Dae Jaweon: page 1814, character 5
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 4228, character 14
Unihan data for U+934A

Unihan data for U+F99B

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 鍊
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script

Characters in the same phonetic series (柬) (Zhengzhang, 2003)

	Old Chinese
蘭	*ɡ·raːn
攔	*ɡ·raːn
欄	*ɡ·raːn
瀾	ɡ·raːn, ɡ·raːns
讕	ɡ·raːn, ɡ·raːnʔ, *ɡ·raːns
闌	*ɡ·raːn
韊	*ɡ·raːn
幱	*ɡ·raːn
籣	*ɡ·raːn
躝	*ɡ·raːn
爛	*ɡ·raːns
爤	*ɡ·raːns
鑭	*ɡ·raːns
糷	*ɡ·raːns
斕	*ɡ·reːn
揀	kreːnʔ, ɡ·reːns
柬	*kreːnʔ
暕	*kreːnʔ
諫	*kraːns
練	*ɡ·reːns
鍊	*ɡ·reːns
煉	*ɡ·reːns
楝	*ɡ·reːns
萰	*ɡ·reːns
堜	*ɡ·reːns
湅	*ɡ·reːns

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *ɡ·reːns): semantic 金 (“metal”) + phonetic 柬 (OC *kreːnʔ).

Etymology 1

trad.		鍊
simp.		炼^*
nonstandard simp.		𫔀
alternative forms		煉／炼 especially for figurative meanings 錬

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): liàn (lian⁴)

(Zhuyin): ㄌㄧㄢˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): lin⁶
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): lien

(Hailu, HRS): lien^˖

(Meixian, Guangdong): liên⁴
Eastern Min (BUC): liêng
Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): loeng⁵ / lyoeng⁵
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): liān

(Teochew, Peng'im): liêng⁷
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶li

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: liàn
  - Zhuyin: ㄌㄧㄢˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: liàn
  - Wade–Giles: lien⁴
  - Yale: lyàn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: liann
  - Palladius: лянь (ljanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /li̯ɛn⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong–Macau)
  - Jyutping: lin⁶
  - Yale: lihn
  - Cantonese Pinyin: lin⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: lin⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /liːn²²/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: lien
  - Hakka Romanization System: lien
  - Hagfa Pinyim: lian⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /li̯en⁵⁵/
- (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
  - Hakka Romanization System: lien^˖
  - Sinological IPA: /lien³³/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: liên⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /liɛn⁵³/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: liêng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /l̃iɛŋ²⁴²/
Puxian Min
- (Putian)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: loeng⁵
  - Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: lē̤ng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /lœŋ¹¹/
- (Xianyou)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: lyoeng⁵
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /lyøŋ²¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Jinjiang, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: liān
  - Tâi-lô: liān
  - Phofsit Daibuun: lien
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /liɛn²²/
  - IPA (Quanzhou, Jinjiang): /liɛn⁴¹/
  - IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /liɛn³³/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: liêng⁷
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: liēng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /lieŋ¹¹/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁶li
  - MiniDict: li^去
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³li
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /li²³/

Middle Chinese: lenH

Rime
Character	鍊
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	來 (37)
Final (韻)	先 (85)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	IV
Fanqie	郎甸切
Baxter	lenH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/len^H/
Pan Wuyun	/len^H/
Shao Rongfen	/lɛn^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/lɛn^H/
Li Rong	/len^H/
Wang Li	/lien^H/
Bernhard Karlgren	/lien^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	liàn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	lin⁶

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*[r]ˤen-s/

(Zhengzhang): /*ɡ·reːns/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	鍊
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	liàn
Middle Chinese	‹ len^H ›
Old Chinese	/*[r]ˁen-s/
English	refine (metal)
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. [t] as coda may in fact be -t or -p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	鍊
Reading #	1/1
No.	6142
Phonetic component	柬
Rime group	元
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	練
Old Chinese	/*ɡ·reːns/

Definitions

鍊

to smelt; to refine
(figurative) to measure (one's words); to polish (one's wording)
(figurative) to temper; to steel; to cultivate
a surname

Compounds

千錘百鍊 / 千锤百炼 (qiānchuíbǎiliàn)
洗鍊 / 洗炼 (xǐliàn)
淬鍊 / 淬炼 (cuìliàn)
燒丹鍊汞 / 烧丹炼汞
百鍊之鋼 / 百炼之钢
百鍊剛 / 百炼刚
百鍊成鋼 / 百炼成钢 (bǎiliànchénggāng)
百鍊金 / 百炼金
百鍊鋼 / 百炼钢
百鍊鐵 / 百炼铁
磨鍊 / 磨炼 (móliàn)
精鍊 / 精炼 (jīngliàn)
細鍊 / 细炼
肘手鍊足 / 肘手炼足
錘鍊 / 锤炼 (chuíliàn)
鍊丹 / 炼丹 (liàndān)
鍊冶 / 炼冶
鍊句 / 炼句
鍊字 / 炼字
鍊師 / 炼师
鍊度 / 炼度
鍊形 / 炼形
鍊氣 / 炼气
鍊氣士 / 炼气士
鍊石補天 / 炼石补天
鍊貧 / 炼贫
鍊金 / 炼金
鍊金術 / 炼金术 (liànjīnshù)
鍛鍊 / 锻炼 (duànliàn)
闖鍊 / 闯炼
陳鍊 / 陈炼

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 鍊 – see 鏈 (“chain; wire; cable; chain; shack; etc.”). (This character is a variant form of 鏈).

Japanese

Shinjitai	錬
Kyūjitai	鍊

Kanji

鍊

(Jinmeiyō kanji, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 錬)

to smelt (metals)
to forge
to refine

Readings

On (unclassified): れん (ren)
Kun: ねる (neru, 鍊る)

Korean

Hanja

鍊 (eumhun 불릴 련 (bullil ryeon), word-initial (South Korea) 불릴 연 (bullil yeon))

hanja form^? of 련/연 (“smelt metals, forge”)
hanja form^? of 련/연 (“refine”)

Compounds

단련 (鍛鍊, dallyeon)
훈련 (訓鍊, hullyeon)

Vietnamese

Han character

鍊: Hán Nôm readings: luyện, rèn, rén

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