LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininethird declension

fornāx

fornāx f (genitive fornācis)
Classical[ˈfɔr.naːks]Ecclesiastical[ˈfɔr.naks]

Meaning

  1. a furnace, oven, kiln
    […] aestuat ut clausīs rapidus fornācibus ignis[…] as the rapacious fire blazes in a sealed furnacec. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Vergilius, Georgicon 4.263
    […] strīduntque cavernīs / strictūrae Chalybum et fornācibus ignis anhēlatChalybian ores hiss in the caverns, and from the furnace mouths puff the hot-panting fires29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 8.420

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

locus clausus ignis ārdentis
fornāx -ācis (f) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 5, 14

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativefornāx
fornācula		fornācēs
fornāculae
genitivefornācis
fornāculae		fornācum
fornācium, fornāculārum
dativefornācī
fornāculae		fornācibus
fornāculīs
accusativefornācem
fornāculam		fornācēs
fornāculās
ablativefornāce
fornāculā		fornācibus
fornāculīs
vocativefornāx
fornācula		fornācēs
fornāculae

fornax, ācis, f. cf.: fornus and furnus, Gr. πῦρ,
I. a furnace, oven, kiln (cf. also: caminus, clibanus, focus): in ardentibus fornacibus, Cic. N. D. 1, 37, 103: calcaria, Cato, R. R. 38; Plin. 17, 9, 6, § 53: aeraria, id. 11, 36, 42, § 119: calidae, Lucr. 6, 148; cf.: recoquunt patrios fornacibus enses, Verg. A. 7, 636: balinei, Dig. 19, 2, 58.—Poet. transf. of Aetna: vastae Aetnae fornaces, i. e. craters, Lucr. 6, 681: vidimus undantem ruptis fornacibus Aetnam, Verg. G. 1, 472: quae sulfureis ardet fornacibus Aetne, Ov. M. 15, 340.—
II. Personified: Fornax, the goddess that presided over ovens, the ovengoddess, for whom Numa is said to have instituted an especial festival (v. fornacalis, II.), Ov. F. 2, 525 sq.; Lact. 1, 20, 35.

Origins

From fornus (“furnace”) + -āx (adjectival suffix).

Descendants
  • Catalanfornal
  • Italianfornace
  • Frenchfournaisefrom Old French fornais
  • Englishfurnacefrom Old French fornais
  • Spanishhornazafrom Old Spanish fornaz
  • Spanishhornacho
  • Irishfoirnéisfrom Old French fornais
  • Manxfurnishfrom Old French fornais
  • Scotsfurnacefrom Old French fornais
  • Welshffwrnaisfrom Old French fornais

In English words that came into English from fornāx

  • furnacefornāx

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesFornaxFornax dim. FORNACULA, FURNUS (κάμινος, dim. καμίνιον), a kiln; an oven; a furnace. The construction of the kilns used for baking earthenware [FICTILE…

Quick answers

What does fornāx mean in Latin?
fornāx, a noun, means “a furnace, oven, kiln”.
What is the genitive of fornāx?
The genitive singular is fornācis. fornāx is feminine, third declension.
How do you pronounce fornāx?
In classical Latin, [ˈfɔr.naːks]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈfɔr.naks].