also: こう
This bridge is made of steel.
Steel production increased this year.
sword steel; sword (poetic)
Refers to steel used for swords, or poetically to a sword itself. Often in literary or historical contexts.
He headed to the battlefield with a sword in hand.
The sword was forged from high-quality steel.
This knife is made of steel.
The swordsmith forges the steel in the flames.
His will is as unyielding as steel.
鋼鉄 is a slightly more formal/technical synonym for 鋼, both meaning steel, often used interchangeably in engineering contexts.
刀 is the ordinary word for a sword, while 鋼 is used poetically or figuratively to mean a sword by referring to its blade material.
スチール is the katakana loanword for steel, common in casual or product-related contexts, while 鋼 is the native Japanese term used in more technical or literary settings.
鋼 is the general word for finished steel, while 粗鋼 refers specifically to the raw, unfinished steel output measured in production statistics.
鉄 is plain iron, whereas 鋼 is steel, a harder alloy of iron and carbon, so the two are easily confused but chemically distinct.
鋼 is the everyday word for 'steel' as a hard, worked metal, while 鉄鋼 is a formal industry term encompassing both iron and steel.
Standard kanji spelling; the reading はがね is the most common.
On-reading, mostly found in compounds such as 鋼鉄 (こうてつ). Rare as a standalone word.
Rarely used kanji form.
A native compound of 刃（は） “blade” and 金（かね） “metal,” with voicing of the second element, originally denoting metal suitable for blades.