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 Groton Emergency Dispatch Center received a 911 call around 1:43 a.m. from resident of a townhouse on Driftwood Circle reporting a fire in the furnace and flue exhaust area of the residence, according to Capt. Gregory J. McCarthy of the Groton Police Department. —Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 11 Feb. 2025

Unable to vent their rage directly against Stevens’ person, Rebel soldiers settled for burning his furnace to the ground and carrying off the materials, provisions and animals needed to operate it. —Robert Colby, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Feb. 2025

For homeowners, ensuring that a house's furnace operates efficiently and reliably during these conditions is critical. —Joel Thayer, Newsweek, 27 Jan. 2025

While some renters are not in a position to, say, swap out their homeowner's furnace, some renters with flexibility might be interested in a portable heat pump. —Julia Simon, NPR, 25 Dec. 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

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)