Emily Dickinson Lexicon

ATH'A-NOR, n. [Ar. and Heb. תנור, thanor, an oven or furnace.]

A digesting furnace, formerly used in chimical operations; so constructed as to maintain a uniform and durable heat. It is a furnace, with a lateral tower close on all sides, which is to be filled with fuel. As the fuel below is consumed, that in the tower falls down to supply its place. – Nicholson.