furnace

English

An oil furnace for heating a building

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰer-

Proto-Indo-European *-nós

Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰr̥nós

Proto-Italic *xʷornos

Proto-Italic *fornos

Latin fornus

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂ks

Proto-Italic *-āks

Latin -āx

Latin fornāx

Old French fornaisbor.

Middle English forneys

English furnace

Inherited from Middle English forneys, borrowed from Old French fornais, from Latin fornāx.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɝnɪs/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɜːnɪs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)nɪs

Noun

furnace (plural furnaces)

1. An industrial heating device, such as for smelting metal or firing ceramics.

   Plans for the next phase include furnaces capable of inert atmospheres and partial vacuums.

2. (US, Canada) A device that provides heat for a building.

   Coordinate terms: heater, space heater

   HVAC services include furnace maintenance.

3. (colloquial, figurative) Any area that is excessively hot.

   The busy kitchen became a sweltering furnace.

4. (figurative) A place or time of punishment, affliction, or great trial; severe experience or discipline.

   forged in the furnace of fierce competition

   • 1530 January 27 (Gregorian calendar), W[illiam] T[yndale], transl., [The Pentateuch] (Tyndale Bible), Malborow [Marburg], Hesse: […] Hans Luft [actually Antwerp: Johan Hoochstraten], →OCLC, Deuteronomye iiij:[20], folio IX, recto:

     For the Lorde toke you and broughte you out of the yernen fornace of Egipte, to be vnto him a people of enheritaunce, as it is come to paſſe this daye.

   • 1866, Herman Melville, Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War‎^[1], Supplement:

     For that heroic band—those children of the furnace who, in regions like Texas and Tennessee, maintained their fidelity through terrible trials—we of the North felt for them, and profoundly we honor them.

Hyponyms

• almond furnace
• almond-furnace
• athanor
• blast furnace
• Catalan furnace
• converting furnace
• electric arc furnace
• industrial furnace
• ladle furnace
• muffle furnace
• muffler furnace
• open hearth furnace
• Pernot furnace
• philosophical furnace
• reduction furnace
• regenerative furnace
• reverberatory furnace
• semimuffle furnace
• shaft furnace

Derived terms

• doré furnace
• franklinfurnaceite
• Furnace Creek
• furnacelike
• furnaceman
• furnacer
• furnacey
• induction furnace
• Mannheim furnace
• microfurnace
• nonfurnace
• Phurnacite
• Rockhill Furnace
• smoke like a furnace
• Stetefeldt furnace
• there may be snow on the rooftop but there is fire in the furnace

Translations

device for heating in a factory, melting metals, etc — see also oven,‎ forge

• Aramaic:

  Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܐܲܬܘܼܢܵܐ m (āttuna)

• Armenian: հնոց (hy) (hnocʻ), քուրա (hy) (kʻura)

  Old Armenian: բով (bov)

• Belarusian: печ f (pječ), то́пка f (tópka)
• Bulgarian: пещ (bg) f (pešt)
• Chichewa: ng'anjo
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 爐子 / 炉子 (zh) (lúzi), 熔爐 / 熔炉 (zh) (rónglú), 爐 / 炉 (zh) (lú)

• Czech: pec (cs) f
• Dutch: oven (nl) m, ketel (nl) m
• Finnish: sulatusuuni (fi), ahjo (fi), uuni (fi), masuuni (fi)
• French: four (fr) m, haut fourneau (fr) m
• Galician: forno (gl) m
• German: Ofen (de) m, Hochofen (de) m, Schmelzofen (de) m
• Gothic: 𐌰𐌿𐌷𐌽𐍃 m (auhns)
• Greek: καμίνι (el) n (kamíni), φούρνος (el) m (foúrnos)

  Ancient Greek: κάμινος f (káminos), βαῦνος m (baûnos)

• Hebrew: כּוּר (he) m (kur)
• Hindi: भट्ठा m (bhaṭṭhā), भट्ठी (hi) m (bhaṭṭhī)
• Hungarian: kemence (hu), kohó (hu)
• Irish: foirnéis f
• Italian: fornace (it) f, bruciatore (it) m, caldaia (it) f
• Japanese: 窯 (ja) (かま, kama), 溶鉱炉 (ja) (ようこうろ, yōkōro), 炉 (ja) (ろ, ro)
• Korean: 노 (ko) (no), 용광로 (yonggwangno)
• Latin: fornāx f
• Ligurian: fornâxe f
• Macedonian: печка f (pečka)
• Māori: tahunga
• Mongolian: пийшин (mn) (piišin)
• Persian: کوره (fa) (kure)
• Polabian: pic f
• Polish: piec (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: forno (pt) m, fornalha (pt) f
• Romanian: furnal (ro) n
• Russian: печь (ru) f (pečʹ), горн (ru) m (gorn), до́мна (ru) f (dómna), то́пка (ru) f (tópka)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пећ f

  Latin: peć f

• Slovak: vyhňa f, pec f
• Slovene: peč (sl) f
• Spanish: fragua (es) f
• Swedish: masugn (sv) c
• Tagalog: dapugan
• Turkish: fırın (tr), yüksek fırın (tr)
• Ukrainian: піч (uk) f (pič), то́пка f (tópka), го́рно (uk) n (hórno), горни́ло n (hornýlo), вагра́нка (uk) f (vahránka)
• Vietnamese: lò (vi), lò sưởi (vi)
• Yiddish: אויוון m (oyvn)

device for heating a building — see also oven,‎ heating,‎ heater,‎ boiler

• Catalan: calefacció (ca) f
• Dutch: ketel (nl) m
• Finnish: uuni (fi), lämmitysuuni (fi), pannu (fi)
• French: chaudière (fr) f
• Galician: calefacción (gl) f
• German: Ofen (de) m, Heizung (de) f
• Hawaiian: kapuahi hoʻomahana hale
• Hungarian: kályha (hu), kazán (hu)
• Irish: foirnéis f
• Italian: caldaia (it) f, bruciatore (it) m
• Latin: camīnus m
• Manx: furnish m
• Polish: piec (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: fornalha (pt) f
• Russian: печь (ru) f (pečʹ)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: kamjeny pl

• Spanish: forno (es) m, fornalla f
• Swedish: panna (sv) c, värmepanna (sv) c
• Turkish:

  Ottoman Turkish: كولخان (külhan) (in a Turkish bath)

• Ukrainian: піч (uk) (pič), гру́бка (hrúbka)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

hot area — see also oven

• Bulgarian: фу́рна f (fúrna)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 火爐 / 火炉 (zh) (huǒlú), 烤爐 / 烤炉 (zh) (kǎolú)

• Finnish: pätsi (fi)
• French: fournaise (fr) f
• Greek: καμίνι (el) n (kamíni), φούρνος (el) m (foúrnos)
• Polish: piec (pl) m inan
• Russian: то́пка (ru) f (tópka), печь (ru) f (pečʹ), пе́чка (ru) f (péčka)
• Spanish: achicharradero (es) m, chicharrera (es) f, asadero (es) m, tostadero m
• Ukrainian: пе́кло (péklo)

Verb

furnace (third-person singular simple present furnaces, present participle furnacing, simple past and past participle furnaced)

1. To heat in a furnace.
2. To exhale like a furnace.

Anagrams

• Fraunce