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

Workers of German steel manufacturer Salzgitter AG stand in front of a furnace at a plant in Salzgitter, Germany, March 1, 2018. —Holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 12 Mar. 2025

Westfalia Americas Additional standard equipment includes a Truma Combi LP furnace/water heater, a Truma Aventa Eco rooftop air conditioner, a power entry step and a power awning. —New Atlas, 10 Mar. 2025

The combined water heater and furnace system can operate on multiple fuel settings, thanks to a Truma Combi eco plus system, including all-electric, all propane, or a mix of both. —Everett Potter, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025

The mother and children spent the night sleeping next to a home’s furnace vent, WITI reported. —Lauren Liebhaber, Kansas City Star, 27 Feb. 2025

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

Rhymes for furnace

• externus

Kids Definition

furnace

noun

fur·​nace ˈfər-nəs 

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