furnace

noun

fur·​nace ˈfər-nəs How to pronounce furnace (audio)
: 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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
For decades, Saarland’s foundries and furnaces belched black into the sky. Jeff Chu, Travel + Leisure, 6 July 2026 Its light is rather that of a glowing molten metal than that of a burning furnace. Robert Lea, Space.com, 3 July 2026 Seasonal changes, like turning on the furnace in fall, combined with lower humidity, shorter days, and hotter or colder air, often cause ficus to shed a few leaves between seasons. Leanne Potts, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 July 2026 By the end of the 1970s, the band and movemenet were losing goodwill, loathed by both the hip disco cognoscenti and a reactionary macho counterinsurgence that culminated in the vinyl furnace at Disco Demolition Night in Chicago. Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 1 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for furnace

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 *gwhr̥-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 *gwher- "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

Time Traveler
The first known use of furnace was in the 13th century

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Cite this Entry

“Furnace.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/furnace. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Kids Definition

furnace

noun
fur·​nace ˈfər-nəs How to pronounce furnace (audio)
: an enclosed structure in which heat is produced (as for heating a house or melting metals)

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