Made of or containing iron; iron-like in quality or appearance.
From Middle English and Old English roots related to iron ('fearn,' 'iren'), with '-en' as a suffix meaning 'made of' (similar to 'wooden' or 'golden').
This archaic adjective reminds us that English once had productive '-en' adjectives for materials everywhere—'woolen,' 'golden,' 'brazen'—but we've mostly replaced them with '-y' endings like 'irony' or Latin-derived forms, making 'ferren' a lovely fossil word.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.