chemin de fer vs cards

chemin de fer and cards both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
chemin de fer	Yes	No	No	No
cards	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, cards is a hypernym of chemin de fer; that is, cards is a word with a broader meaning than chemin de fer:

chemin de fer: a card game played in casinos in which two or more punters gamble against the banker; the player wins who holds 2 or 3 cards that total closest to nine
cards: a game played with playing cards

Other hypernyms of chemin de fer include card game.

chemin de fer (noun)	cards (noun)
a card game played in casinos in which two or more punters gamble against the banker; the player wins who holds 2 or 3 cards that total closest to nine	a game played with playing cards