fer

In a sentence

• Le cheval portait de nouveaux fers que le maréchal lui avait donnés.

  The horse wore new shoes that the blacksmith had given him.

  In this sentence, 'fer' refers to 'horseshoes', which are made of iron (fer in French).

• Marie a placé un fer chaud sur son linge pour le repasser.

  Marie placed a hot iron on her laundry to iron it.

  Here, 'fer' is used to mean 'iron', the appliance for ironing clothes, directly derived from its material.

• Ce pont est construit entièrement en fer et en acier.

  This bridge is built entirely of iron and steel.

  'Fer' in this context refers to 'iron', a type of metal used in construction.