fer

\fɛʁ\

/\fɛʁ\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“fer” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #1,262) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#1,262
frequency rank, French
3,276
“F” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Élément chimique de numéro atomique 26 et de symbole Fe qui fait partie des métaux de transition.

Corpus desk

Index FR-fer · fer · French

fer · rank #1,262 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,262
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,276
  • PHOTO-FINISH facilement

Nearest frequency peer: facilement (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “fer”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “fer” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

fer vs FN
0% similar
fer vs fo
33% similar
fer vs fm
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for fer
PropertyValue
Headwordfer
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\fɛʁ\
Letters3
Frequency rank#1,262
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “fer” se place dans la fréquence du français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).ferse place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « facilement » (#1,261), « fil » (#1,263), « expression » (#1,260). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for fer is neighbouring look-alikes ("FN", "fo", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced \fɛʁ\. Frequency #1,262 among 3,276 “F” headwords. 18 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

fer doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "FN", "fo", "fm", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is fer, spelled F-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Élément chimique de numéro atomique 26 et de symbole Fe qui fait partie des métaux de transition.
  2. 2
    Corps simple métallique de cet élément, blanc grisâtre, ductile et malléable.
  3. 3
    Acier ne durcissant pas par trempe (acier doux, à faible teneur en carbone).
  4. 4
    Minéral contenant du fer.
  5. 5
    Substance ferrugineuse contenue dans certains aliments et indispensable au bon fonctionnement des organismes biologiques.
  6. 6
    Météorite de type sidérite, constituée essentiellement de fer et de nickel.
  7. 7
    Objet en fer.
  8. 8
    Lame d’une arme ou d’un outil.
  9. 9
    Fer-à-cheval, bande recourbée en fer formant une semelle, que l’on fixe sous la face inférieure du pied du cheval et de quelques autres bêtes de somme.
  10. 10
    Entraves ; chaînes ; menottes.
  11. 11
    Esclavage, état d’oppression.
  12. 12
    Club de golf à tête métallique, pour frapper la balle à distance longue ou intermédiaire.
  13. 13
    Profilé métallique obtenu par laminage ou étirage.
  14. 14
    Parties métalliques d’un composteur touchant la première et la dernière lettre en plomb, d’où les expressions fer à gauche et fer à droite désignant l’appui de la première lettre dans une ligne et ainsi l’alignement d’un texte en bout de justification à gauche et à droite. Ces expressions sont restées pour la photocomposition.
  15. 15
    Fer à repasser.
  16. 16
    Chemin de fer.
  17. 17
    Voir de fer.
  18. 18
    Nom donné à des truelles très fines utilisées pour lisser les joints.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how fer appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Le perchlorure de fer ajouté à une solution d’antipyrine donne une coloration rouge.
  2. Le fer, en particulier, a un spectre total (visible et photographiable) ne renfermant pas moins de 5000 raies […]

Synonyms

Fe♂

This word in other languages

iron(English)hierro(Español)Eisen(Deutsch)ferro(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "fer"?
"fer" is spelled F-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \fɛʁ\.
What does "fer" mean?
As a noun, "fer" means: Élément chimique de numéro atomique 26 et de symbole Fe qui fait partie des métaux de transition.
What words are commonly confused with "fer"?
"fer" is commonly confused with "FN", "fo", "fm". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "fer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fer" is \fɛʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "fer" come from?
"fer" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "fer", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

fil#1,263vit#1,282top#1,241end#1,229

What to do next

You've looked up "fer". Here's where to go from here.

  • "fer" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "FN". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #1,262 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "F" letter cohort. F–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list