I. ˈfərnə̇s, ˈfə̄n-, ˈfəin- noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English furneis, furnas, from Old French fornaise, fournaise, from Latin fornac-, fornax; akin to Latin formus warm — more at warm
1. : an apparatus for the production or application of heat: as
a. : an enclosed structure for reducing ore or melting or heat-treating metal by the application of intense heat produced typically by full combustion — compare hearth
b. : an oven for firing pottery : kiln
c. : an apparatus usually consisting of a firepot and a system of pipes to carry heat to all parts of a building
d. : an atomic reactor
2. archaic : a boiler or crucible
3. : something that resembles or has the effect of a furnace
the immense furnaces of the stars — J.A.Thomson & Patrick Geddes
as gold is refined in the crucible so do the great Christian virtues … flow in all their purity from the furnace of man's affliction — W.F.Hambly
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1. obsolete : to give forth like a furnace
he furnaces the thick sighs from him — Shakespeare
2.
a. : to subject to heat
a mixture of extremely fine silica and … lead oxide is furnaced for two hours at 625° C — E.R.Riegel
b. : to appear to heat : make glow
the Indian House stood furnaced in melancholy red by a September sunset — William Sansom