Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FUR'NACE, n. [Fr. fournaise, fourneau; It. fornace; Sp. horno; from L. fornax, furnus, either from burning, or the sense is an arch.]

1. A place where a vehement fire and heat may be made and maintained, for melting ores or metals, &c. A furnace for casting cannon and other large operations is inclosed with walls through which a current of air is blown from a large bellows. In smaller operations a vessel is constructed with a chamber or cavity, with a door and a grate.
2. In Scripture, a place of cruel bondage and affliction. Deut. iv.
3. Grievous afflictions by which men are tried. Ezek. xxii.
4. A place of temporal torment. Dan. iii.
5. Hell; the place of endless torment. Matth. xiii.