kiln

noun

ˈkiln  ˈkil 

: an oven, furnace, or heated enclosure used for processing a substance by burning, firing, or drying

kiln transitive verb

Did you know?

The word kiln was kindled in Old English as a bundle of c-y-l-n. Unlike many words that descend from Old English, however, kiln is not ultimately Germanic in origin but was borrowed from Latin culina, meaning "kitchen," an ancestor of the English word culinary, which has been a menu option in English since the 17th century. An ingredient in culina is coquere, meaning "to cook" in Latin.

Examples of kiln in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In 2023, the architects expanded the project with Terra Cotta Workshop, a neighboring facility featuring studio space for other local artists, as well as a large kiln and visitor center. —Faye Bradley, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2025

The third new classroom is the new art classroom and ditches the L to accommodate more specialized equipment including a kiln. —Edward Keegan, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 2025

Any variations, Thompson said, come from natural dyes or residual smoke produced by the wood coal that’s used to fire the kilns. —Liz Rothaus Bertrand, Charlotte Observer, 12 Aug. 2025

This eliminates the need to run kilns hot as a safety margin, thereby improving energy efficiency by 5–10% and boosting downstream productivity by 3–8%. —Ankit Mishra, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English kilne, from Old English cyln, from Latin culina kitchen, from coquere to cook — more at cook

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

kiln

noun

ˈkiln  ˈkil 

: an oven or furnace for hardening, burning, or drying something

brick kilns

kiln verb