qiān

lead (metal)

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components
金 meaning component

  Meaning component

jīn

  

metal

㕣 sound component

  Sound component

yǎn

  

a marsh at the foot of the hills

Evolution

鉛 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
鉛 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
鉛 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

() 

qiān

lead plumbum; lead (chemistry)

Most common words with 鉛
Freq.
Word
Meaning

lead (chemistry)

铅笔

(lead) pencil

铅球

shot put (athletics event)

铅笔盒

pencil case

铅字

type