ENGLISH
REFERENCE

stove

n.
US //ˈstoʊv// UK //stˈəʊv// stove
  1. 1 cooking appliance (n.)
    A2 Elementary Cooking

    a large piece of kitchen equipment used for cooking food, usually with a flat top and an oven.

    an apparatus for cooking food, typically consisting of a hob or stovetop and often an integrated oven.

    Example

    She left a pot of soup simmering on the stove while she cleaned the kitchen.

    Example

    Modern electric stoves often feature induction technology, which heats the cookware directly through magnetic induction rather than thermal conduction.

    Usage

    In British English, 'cooker' is more common for the whole appliance, while 'stove' often refers specifically to the top part or a heating unit.

  2. 2 heating unit (n.)
    B1 Intermediate

    a closed metal box used to burn wood or coal to keep a room warm.

    a closed apparatus, often made of cast iron, designed to burn fuel such as wood or coal for space heating.

    Example

    We sat by the wood-burning stove to warm our hands after the long walk.

    Example

    The cabin was equipped with a traditional pot-bellied stove that provided sufficient warmth for the entire living area during the winter months.

Origin

From Middle Dutch stove and/or Middle Low German stove (compare Dutch stoof (“foot stove”), German Low German Stuve, Stuuv), both from Proto-West Germanic stubu (“heated room, bathroom, stove”), further origin uncertain. The Germanic words are very old, and are the source of the Slavic and Romance terms. It is often speculated that the Germanic terms were borrowed from Vulgar Latin extūfa, extūfāre (“to heat with steam”), from Latin ex- + tūfus (“hot vapor”), from Ancient Greek τῦφος (tûphos, “fever”). Cognates Cognate with Old English stofa (“bathroom, bathhouse”), stufbæþ (“hot-air bath”), Old High German stuba (“heated room, bathroom”) (whence German Stube (“living room, room, parlour”), Hungarian szoba (“room”)), Old Norse stofa (whence Danish stue (“living room, room”), Faroese stova (“living room, house”), Icelandic stofa (“living room”), Norwegian Bokmål stue (“cottage, cabin, living room”), Norwegian Nynorsk stove (“cottage, cabin, living room”), Swedish stuga (“cottage, cabin, living room”)). Doublet of stufa.

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