鉛

音読おんよみ: エン

訓読くんよみ: なまり

画数かくすう: 13

部首ぶしゅ: 釒（かねへん）

Meaning

Lead (metal) / Plumb / Pencil Lead

  • 鉛なまり — lead (metal)
  • 鉛筆えんぴつ — pencil
  • 鉛直えんちょく — vertical; plumb
  • 黒鉛こくえん — graphite
  • 鉛白えんぱく — lead white (pigment)
  • 鉛中毒えんちゅうどく — lead poisoning
  • 鉛色なまりいろ — leaden gray

鉛 is phono-semantic: the left side かねへん marks metals, while the right side supplies the sound エン. The core sense is the soft, heavy metal “lead,” which extends to ideas like pencil lead (鉛筆) and a straight, vertical line set by a plumb (鉛直).

刀

鉛刀一割えんとういっかつ — “even a dull lead sword can cut once.” A reminder that a blunt tool (or an ordinary person) may still have a moment to shine — or that some things work only once. The pairing of 鉛 (lead) with 刀 (sword) makes the proverb stick.

鉛筆
Creates

鉛筆えんぴつ — pencil; “lead” pencil.

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