鉛 means “lead (metal)”

なまり · namari

Also: lead

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

なまり

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

エン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 13 strokes

The story

Metal (金) beside the right half of 沿, 几 over 口: picture a soft gray metal bending along your fingers. 鉛 is lead, yet a 鉛筆, pencil, holds none at all: its core is 黒鉛, graphite, mixed with clay.

Used in 鉛筆 (enpitsu, pencil), 鉛 (namari, lead), and 亜鉛 (aen, zinc)

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Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.