Meanings
plural ovens
- colloquialfigurativelyA very hot place.
The ballroom that evening was an absolute oven. I probably perspired more dancing then during the afternoon ballgame.
2011, Vern Shutz, Memoirs of a Left Hander, page 96
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*aukʷ-“cooking pot”
- Proto-Germanic*uhnaz
- Proto-West Germanic*ofn“oven”
- Old Englishofn“oven”
- Middle Englishoven
- Englishoven
From Middle English oven, from Old English ofn (“oven”), from Proto-West Germanic *ofn (“oven”), from Proto-Germanic *uhnaz, *uhwnaz (“oven”). Cognate with West Frisian ûne (“oven”), Dutch oven (“oven”), Low German Aven (“oven”), German Ofen (“oven”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål ovn (“oven”), Faroese ovnur (“oven”), Icelandic ofn (“oven”), Norwegian Nynorsk omn (“oven”), Swedish ugn (“oven”), Finnish uuni (“oven”), Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐌷𐌽𐍃 (auhns, “oven”)), probably from a Proto-Indo-European *aukʷ- (“cooking pot”), *Hukʷ-, *ukʷnos (compare Sanskrit उखा (ukhā, “boiler, cauldron”), Albanian anë (“vessel, cooker”), Latin aulla, olla (“pot, jar”), Ancient Greek ἰπνός (ipnós, “oven, furnace”)). The modern pronunciation shows a sound change in which Middle English /ɔv/ is changed to /uv/; compare the phonetic development of Coventry and shovel.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans oond
- oondchamber used for baking or heating
Ancient Greek ἰπνός, κάμινος
- ἰπνός (ipnós)chamber used for baking or heating
- κάμινος (káminos)chamber used for baking or heating
- κλίβανος (klíbanos)chamber used for baking or heating
Arabic فُرْن, تَنُّور
- فُرْن (furn)chamber used for baking or heating
- تَنُّور (tannūr)chamber used for baking or heating
Basque labe
- labechamber used for baking or heating
Bengali চুলা, তন্দুর
- চুলা (cula)chamber used for baking or heating
- তন্দুর (tondur)chamber used for baking or heating
- উনান (unan)chamber used for baking or heating
- আখা (akha)chamber used for baking or heating
Bulgarian фу́рна, пещ
- фу́рна (fúrna)chamber used for baking or heating
- пещ (pešt)chamber used for baking or heating
Catalan forn
- fornchamber used for baking or heating
Chinese Cantonese 焗爐 /焗炉
- 焗爐 /焗炉 (guk⁶ lou⁴)chamber used for baking or heating
Chinese Mandarin 烤爐 /烤炉, 爐 /炉
- 烤爐 /烤炉 (kǎolú)chamber used for baking or heating
- 爐 /炉 (lú)chamber used for baking or heating
- 烘爐 /烘炉 (hōnglú)chamber used for baking or heating
Czech trouba, pec
- troubachamber used for baking or heating
- pecchamber used for baking or heating
Danish ovn
- ovnchamber used for baking or heating
Dutch oven
- ovenchamber used for baking or heating
Esperanto forno, bakujo
- fornochamber used for baking or heating
- bakujochamber used for baking or heating
Estonian ahi
- ahichamber used for baking or heating
Finnish uuni
- uunichamber used for baking or heating
French four
- fourchamber used for baking or heating
German Backofen, Backrohr
- Backofenchamber used for baking or heating
- Backrohrchamber used for baking or heating
- Ofenchamber used for baking or heating
Greek φούρνος
- φούρνος (foúrnos)chamber used for baking or heating
Hebrew תַּנּוּר
- תַּנּוּר (tanúr)chamber used for baking or heating
Hindi भट्ठी, चूल्हा
- भट्ठी (bhaṭṭhī)chamber used for baking or heating
- चूल्हा (cūlhā)chamber used for baking or heating
- तन्दूर (tandūr)chamber used for baking or heating
- तनूर (tanūr)chamber used for baking or heating
Hungarian kemence, sütő
- kemencechamber used for baking or heating
- sütőchamber used for baking or heating
Icelandic ofn
- ofnchamber used for baking or heating
Indonesian oven, tanur
- ovenchamber used for baking or heating
- tanurchamber used for baking or heating
- pemanggangchamber used for baking or heating
Irish oigheann
- oigheannchamber used for baking or heating
Italian forno
- fornochamber used for baking or heating
Japanese オーブン
- オーブン (ōbun)chamber used for baking or heating
Korean 오븐
- 오븐 (obeun)chamber used for baking or heating
Latin furnus, fornāx
- furnuschamber used for baking or heating
- fornāxchamber used for baking or heating
Latvian krāsns
- krāsnschamber used for baking or heating
Lithuanian krosnis
- krosnischamber used for baking or heating
Malay ketuhar
- ketuharchamber used for baking or heating
Māori umu, oumu
- umuchamber used for baking or heating
- oumuchamber used for baking or heating
Norwegian Bokmål ovn, stekeovn
- ovnchamber used for baking or heating
- stekeovnchamber used for baking or heating
Polish piekarnik, piec
- piekarnikchamber used for baking or heating
- piecchamber used for baking or heating
Portuguese forno
- fornochamber used for baking or heating
Romanian cuptor, sobă
- cuptorchamber used for baking or heating
- sobăchamber used for baking or heating
Russian печь, пе́чка
- печь (pečʹ)chamber used for baking or heating
- пе́чка (péčka)chamber used for baking or heating
- духо́вка (duxóvka)chamber used for baking or heating
Scottish Gaelic àmhainn
- àmhainnchamber used for baking or heating
Slovak piecka, pec
- pieckachamber used for baking or heating
- pecchamber used for baking or heating
Spanish horno, horno
- hornochamber used for baking or heating
- hornoa very hot place
Swedish ugn
- ugnchamber used for baking or heating
Tagalog hurno
- hurnochamber used for baking or heating
Tamil அடுப்பு
- அடுப்பு (aṭuppu)chamber used for baking or heating
Thai เตาอบ
- เตาอบ (dtao-òp)chamber used for baking or heating
Turkish fırın, ocak
- fırınchamber used for baking or heating
- ocakchamber used for baking or heating
Ukrainian піч, пі́чка
- піч (pič)chamber used for baking or heating
- пі́чка (píčka)chamber used for baking or heating
Urdu تَنْدُور, تَنُور
- تَنْدُور (tandūr)chamber used for baking or heating
- تَنُور (tanūr)chamber used for baking or heating
Vietnamese lò, lò nướng
- lòchamber used for baking or heating
- lò nướngchamber used for baking or heating
Welsh ffwrn, popty
- ffwrnchamber used for baking or heating
- poptychamber used for baking or heating
Yiddish אויוון
- אויוון (oyvn)chamber used for baking or heating
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with oven
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
oven. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oven
“oven.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oven. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “oven,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oven.
Source: oven on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.