eisern

== German == === Etymology === From Middle High German īseren, īserīn, from Old High German īsarnīn, from Proto-Germanic *īsarnīnaz. Equivalent to Eiser (“iron”), older variant of Eisen +‎ -en. Now reanalysable as Eisen (“iron”) +‎ -ern, but historically eisern is itself one of the words that contributed to the development of this extended suffix -ern (see there). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈaɪ̯zɐn/ Hyphenation: ei‧sern === Adjective === eisern (strong nominative masculine singular eiserner, comparative (rare) eiserner, superlative am eisernsten) iron, ironclad, made of iron (figurative) staunch, unyielding ==== Usage notes ==== As usual, Modern German prefers compound nouns to the adjective construction, e.g. rather Eisenstange than eiserne Stange (“iron rod”). Therefore the figurative use is now predominant. ==== Declension ==== ==== Derived terms ==== === See also === ehern kupfern silbern golden === Further reading === “eisern” in Duden online “eisern” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache