furnace

noun

fur·​nace ˈfər-nəs 

: an enclosed structure in which heat is produced (as for heating a house or for reducing ore)

Examples of furnace in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The structure appears more like a forbidding furnace than an art space, which is, of course, the point. —Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 8 Oct. 2024

As the reality of AI's influence becomes impossible to ignore, many people plunge into a state of anger—a fiery furnace fueled by fear and uncertainty. —Divya Parekh, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2024

Landers received a photo showing people in southern Cuba shoveling bundles of old records into a furnace, not caring for the history being lost. —Edward Rueda, NBC News, 29 Sep. 2024

Plus, the economic case for replacing furnaces and boilers with massive heat pumps is harder to make when natural gas remains relatively cheap and abundant in the United States. —Bryn Stole, The Atlantic, 24 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English fourneyse, fornes, furneis "oven, kiln, furnace," borrowed from Anglo-French furneis, fornays, fornaise (continental Old French forneis —attested once as masculine noun— fornaise, feminine noun), going back to Latin fornāc-, fornāx (also furnāx) "furnace, oven, kiln (for heating baths, smelting metal, firing clay)," from forn-, furn-, base of furnus, fornus "oven for baking" + -āc-, -āx, noun suffix; forn- going back to Indo-European *g^whr̥-no- (whence also Old Irish gorn "piece of burning wood," Old Russian grŭnŭ, gŭrnŭ "cauldron," Russian gorn "furnace, forge," Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian gŕno "coals for heating iron at a smithy," Sanskrit ghṛṇáḥ "heat, ardor"), suffixed derivative of a verbal base *g^wher- "become warm" — more at therm

Note: The variation between -or-, the expected outcome of zero grade, and -ur- in Latin has been explained as reflecting a rural/dialectal change of o to u, borrowing from Umbrian, or the result of a sound change of uncertain conditioning; see most recently Nicholas Zair, "The origins of -urC- for expected -orC- in Latin," Glotta, Band 93 (2017), pp. 255-89.

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing furnace

• blast furnace
• reverberatory furnace

Kids Definition

furnace

noun

fur·​nace ˈfər-nəs 

: an enclosed structure in which heat is produced (as for heating a house or melting metals)