Etymology

furnace

F4U1R1N1A1C3E1

Today it means: An industrial heating device, such as for smelting metal or firing ceramics. Full definition →

Middle English forneys ← Old French fornais ← Latin fornāx
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*gʷʰer-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*gʷʰr̥nós
  3. Proto-Italic*xʷornos
  4. Proto-Italic*fornos
  5. Latinfornus
  6. Latinfornāx
  7. Old Frenchfornais
  8. Middle Englishforneys
  9. English todayfurnace

Inherited from Middle English forneys, borrowed from Old French fornais, from Latin fornāx.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.