furnace

English

An oil furnace for heating a building

Etymology

From Middle English forneys, from Old French fornais (French fournaise), 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
• 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
• furnacey
• Mannheim furnace
• 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 — see oven

device for heating in a factory, melting metals, etc

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

  Old Armenian: բով (bov)

• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܐܲܬܘܼܢܵܐ m (āttuna)
• 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: κάμινος f (káminos)

• Hindi: भट्टा m (bhattha), भट्ठी (hi) f (bhatthee)
• 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: fornax f
• Ligurian: fornâxe f
• Macedonian: печка f (pečka)
• Maori: tahunga
• Mongolian: пийшин (mn) (piišin)
• Persian: کوره (fa) (kure)
• Polabian: pic f
• Polish: piec (pl) f
• 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

  Roman: peć f

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

device for heating a building

• 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
• Hungarian: kályha (hu), kazán (hu)
• Irish: foirnéis f
• Italian: caldaia (it) f, bruciatore (it) m
• Latin: camīnus m
• Manx: furnish m
• Ottoman Turkish: كولخان (külhan) (in a Turkish bath)
• Portuguese: fornalha (pt) f
• Russian: печь (ru) f (pečʹ)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: kamjeny pl

• Spanish: calefacción (es) f, calefactor (es) m, caldera (es) f
• Swedish: panna (sv) c, värmepanna (sv) c
• Ukrainian: піч (uk) (pič), гру́бка (hrúbka)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

hot area

• Bulgarian: фу́рна f (fúrna)
• Finnish: pätsi (fi)
• French: fournaise (fr) f
• Greek: καμίνι (el) n (kamíni), φούρνος (el) m (foúrnos)
• Russian: то́пка (ru) f (tópka), печь (ru) f (pečʹ), пе́чка (ru) f (péčka)
• 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