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 scientific one — understanding how nitrogenase, tucked inside an ordinary soil bacterium, accomplishes what the Haber-Bosch process requires an industrial furnace to do — remained open. —Quanta Magazine, 29 May 2026

The molten iron could then be fed into the facility’s existing basic oxygen furnaces to create steel, according to GARD. —Maya Wilkins, Chicago Tribune, 29 May 2026

Late summer is often ideal for furnace replacements For furnace purchases, the most affordable period is typically during the late summer or early fall months before temperatures begin dropping significantly. —Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 28 May 2026

There is however by far not enough scrap steel in the world to rely only on this method, but an alternative is to feed such furnaces with Direct Reduced Iron (DRI). —Catarina Rolfsdotter-Jansson, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026

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)