spiegel iron
- noun
- Specialized
- The metallurgist recommended the use of spiegel iron as a deoxidizing agent.
Examples
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Adding spiegel iron helps raise the manganese content during steel production.
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The factory imported spiegel iron to improve the quality of its steel products.
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The factory uses spiegel iron in its steel production.
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Have you ever worked with spiegel irons?
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The metallurgist recommended the use of spiegel iron as a deoxidizing agent in steelmaking.
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Adding spiegel iron helps raise the manganese content during steel production.
-
The factory imported spiegel iron to improve the quality of its steel products.
Synonyms
A hard form of iron with much manganese used to make steel stronger
A kind of iron with a lot of manganese used in making steel
How Manganese-Rich
- Specialized
- Specialized
2
4.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward noun–noun compound: 'spiegel' denotes a particular alloy/type and 'iron' names the metal, so the phrase literally denotes iron of the spiegel type. If a B1 learner knows the constituent meanings (including that 'spiegel' refers to an alloy used to enhance steel), they can readily infer it is a specific form of iron used in steelmaking, following common compounding patterns.
Etymology
The noun spiegel iron comes from the German word spiegeleisen, literally spiegel ('mirror') + iron, because pieces of it broke with a shiny, mirror-like surface. That's why the name now refers to iron with a lot of manganese that is used to add manganese and remove oxygen when making steel.