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

Meanwhile the arches present in the shelving nods to the factory’s furnaces, and the display cases take inspiration from trunks that preciously carried Baccarat pieces to the World Fair on stagecoaches throughout the 19th century. —Marissa Muller, WWD, 12 Feb. 2025

The duo had begun working to preserve swords in the years following the war, approaching postwar occupation leaders when blades were being piled onto barges and dumped in Tokyo Bay or tossed into furnaces as scrap metal. —Kevin Chroust, Outside Online, 5 Feb. 2025

Replace air filters regularly to improve airflow and prevent the furnace from working harder than necessary. —Joel Thayer, Newsweek, 27 Jan. 2025

Smoke Smell The furnace should not be making a smoke smell, since the exhaust from the furnace should escape through the exhaust vent. —Timothy Dale, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 Jan. 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)