Meanings
plural inglenooks · alternative ingle nook · alternative ingle-nook
- historicalarchitectureA nook or corner beside an open fireplace; a chimney corner.
The ingle-nook ſupplies the ſimmer-fields, / An' aft as mony gleefu' maments yields.
1799, Robert Fergusson, “An Eclogue. […]”, in The Poetical Works of R. Fergusson, Paisley, Renfrewshire: R. Smith, […], →OCLC, page 805 more examples
I ſat me in the ingle nook, / And joked wi my luver, / But a' the jokes that I cou'd crack, / The deel a ane could muve her.
1797 May, E. S. J., “A Song”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym; Edward Cave], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, volume LXVII, part I, number V, London: […] John Nichols, […], →OCLC, page 423, column 2Could we find a Hamilton to write a tale in Gaelic, for the ingle-nooks of our cottagers, we might expect a speedy reform. The Highlanders are fond of tales, and there does not seem to be a better method of pointing out to them the advantages of activity and cleanliness, than dispersing among them a few stories drawn up with ability.
1813, George Steuart Mackenzie, “Political Economy”, in General View of the Agriculture of the Counties of Ross and Cromarty. […], London: […] Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, […], →OCLC, section 8 (Healthiness of the Country, Mode of Living, &c.), pages 326–327May the Forest still flourish, both Borough and Landward, / From the hall of the Peer to the herd's ingle-nook; / And huzza! my brave hearts, for Buccleuch and his standard, / For the King and the Country, the Clan and the Duke.
1815 December 1, [Walter Scott; James Hogg], “The Lifting of the Banner”, in The Ettricke Garland; being Two Excellent New Songs on the Lifting of the Banner of the House of Buccleuch, at the Great Foot-ball Match on Carterhaugh, Dec. 4, 1815, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co., →OCLC, page 5[O]ne [chair], distinguished by capacious arms, a high stuffed back, and red cushions, was placed close to the ingle nook, the accustomed seat of the father of the family.
1822 May 1, “The Smuggler”, in The Atheneum; or, Spirit of the English Magazines, volume 11, Boston, Mass.: Munroe and Francis, […], →OCLC, page 103, column 1Alice was removed to the residence of the older Noland, where she was welcomed with a rough but honest kindness, and old Margaret was installed in the ingle nook.
1838 December 22, “the Old Sailor” [pseudonym], “Robin Hood’s Bay”, in William, Robert Chambers, editors, Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal, volume VII, number 360, Edinburgh: […] W[illiam] S[omerville] Orr and Co., […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 378, column 2
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From ingle (“open fireplace”) + nook.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 爐邊 /炉边
- 爐邊 /炉边 (lúbiān)nook or corner beside an open fireplace; chimney corner
German Kaminecke
- Kamineckenook or corner beside an open fireplace; chimney corner
Hungarian sut
- sutnook or corner beside an open fireplace; chimney corner
Irish clúid
- clúidnook or corner beside an open fireplace; chimney corner
Polish zapiecek, krzesło przy zapiecku
- zapieceknook or corner beside an open fireplace; chimney corner
- krzesło przy zapieckubench or seat placed in a fireplace inglenook
Welsh cornel simnai
- cornel simnainook or corner beside an open fireplace; chimney corner
Cite this entry
inglenook. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inglenook
“inglenook.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inglenook. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “inglenook,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inglenook.
Source: inglenook on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.