adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective

1. 1
   Of or containing iron.

   "ferrous metals"

2. 2
   Of compounds of iron in which it has a valence or oxidation number of +2.
3. 3
   Of an element: iron, or in certain ways similar to iron. (Said mainly of iron group elements, in any sense of that term.)

   "ferrous metals"

Adjective

1. 1
   of or relating to or containing iron wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

brassbrassybrazenbronzecopperferric

Antonyms

All antonyms

nonferrous

Example

More examples

"The blacksmith used a ferrous metal to forge a sturdy horseshoe for the horse."

Etymology

From Latin ferrum (“iron”).

Related phrases

carbon-ferrousferrous chlorideferrous ferricyanideferrous fumarateferrous oxideferrous phosphateferrous sulfateferrous sulfideferrous sulphateferrous sulphidenon-ferrousoxidation number

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.