How to Write 镕 (róng) — Meaning “to melt or smelt”

Imagine a metal (钅) object being placed inside a container (容) and heated until it melts — that visual of metal melting in a container captures the meaning of 镕. The right side 容 also sounds like "rong" which matches the pronunciation.

The left radical 钅 is written with five strokes, starting with the short left-falling stroke, then the three horizontal strokes, and finally the vertical hook. The right part 容 has nine strokes — pay attention to the balance: the top 宀 is wide enough to cover the bottom 谷, and the bottom should not be too narrow.

镕 (róng) means to melt or smelt metal, while 锖 (qiāng) is a seldom-used character meaning a kind of metal or a color, and 锗 (zhě) is the chemical element germanium (Ge). Visually, the right sides differ: 镕 has 容, 锖 has 青 (qīng), and 锗 has 者 (zhě). None are common in daily use.

镕 is mostly used in technical or industrial contexts related to metalworking, such as 镕铸 (to cast metal) and 镕炼 (to smelt and refine). It is not a common character in everyday conversation and is more often encountered in specialized writing about metallurgy or traditional crafts.

Common words containing 镕 include: 镕铸 (róng zhù) — to cast or found; 镕化 (róng huà) — to melt; 镕炼 (róng liàn) — to smelt and refine.