Origin

The character 鋼 combines the metal radical 金 on the left, which marks this as a word about metals, with the component 岡 on the right, which serves as a sound hint for the pronunciation コウ. The left side tells you this is about a metallic material, while the right side gives you a rough guide to how the word sounds. Together, they create a character that refers to steel, one of the most important metal alloys used in tools and construction.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).