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 instance, in a steel manufacturing environment, agentic AI could use a digital twin to run continuous micro-experiments on furnace parameters, monitor real-time energy efficiency and automatically adjust settings to reduce energy consumption while preserving quality standards. Dmitriy Stepanov, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025 It wasn't immediately known how many units were uninhabitable or impacted by the fire, which a caller told officials started in a bedroom closet which contained a furnace unit. Jim Riccioli, jsonline.com, 1 July 2025 Fire roared to life minutes later, engulfing the store in a furnace of rising panic and confusion. Jp Mangalindan, Time, 4 June 2025 In another study—currently a preprint awaiting peer review—by the same team, models show that, just over 200 million years after the Big Bang, in the ruins of the very first stars, planets were piecing themselves together around a second generation of stellar furnaces. Robin George Andrews, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 May 2025 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

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Furnace.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/furnace. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025.

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)

More from Merriam-Webster on furnace

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!