oven

noun, verb — 3 senses

oven

noun

US, UK /ˈʌ.vn̩/

Etymology

From Middle English oven, from Old English ofn (“oven”), from Proto-West Germanic *ofn (“oven”), from Proto-Germanic *uhnaz, *uhwnaz (“oven”). Cognate with West Frisian ûne (“oven”), Dutch oven (“oven”), Low German Aven (“oven”), German Ofen (“oven”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål ovn (“oven”), Faroese ovnur (“oven”), Icelandic ofn (“oven”), Norwegian Nynorsk omn (“oven”), Swedish ugn (“oven”), Finnish uuni (“oven”), Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐌷𐌽𐍃 (auhns, “oven”)), probably from a Proto-Indo-European *aukʷ- (“cooking pot”), *Hukʷ-, *ukʷnos (compare Sanskrit उखा (ukhā, “boiler, cauldron”), Albanian anë (“vessel, cooker”), Latin aulla, olla (“pot, jar”), Ancient Greek ἰπνός (ipnós, “oven, furnace”)). The modern pronunciation shows a sound change in which Middle English /ɔv/ is changed to /uv/; compare the phonetic development of Coventry and shovel.

1

A chamber used for baking or heating.

  • Baby I'm hot just like an oven / I need some lovin'1982, “Sexual Healing”, in Midnight Love, performed by Marvin Gaye:
2

Colloquial, Figuratively A very hot place.

  • The ballroom that evening was an absolute oven. I probably perspired more dancing then during the afternoon ballgame.2011, Vern Shutz, Memoirs of a Left Hander, page 96:
Derived terms
56 termsbakeoven, bake oven, Barnstaple oven, black oven, bottle oven, camp oven, cloam oven, clome oven, coke oven gas, convection microwave oven, convection oven, conventional oven, countertop oven, cremation oven, crystal oven, Dutch oven, fan-assisted oven, fan oven, glost oven, halogen oven, have a bun in the oven, induction oven, in the oven, microwave oven, need more time in the oven, ovenable, ovenbird, oven bottom, oven bread, oven chip, oven dish, oven dodger, ovenette, ovenful, oven glove, ovenless, oven-like, ovenlike, oven magnet, oven mitt, ovenproof, oven-proof, oven rack, oven-ready, oven ring, oven tit, ovenware, ovenwood, pizza oven, reel oven, roaster oven, Russian oven, science oven, slow oven, snowball's chance in an oven, toaster oven

oven

verb
Etymology

From Middle English oven, from Old English ofn (“oven”), from Proto-West Germanic *ofn (“oven”), from Proto-Germanic *uhnaz, *uhwnaz (“oven”). Cognate with West Frisian ûne (“oven”), Dutch oven (“oven”), Low German Aven (“oven”), German Ofen (“oven”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål ovn (“oven”), Faroese ovnur (“oven”), Icelandic ofn (“oven”), Norwegian Nynorsk omn (“oven”), Swedish ugn (“oven”), Finnish uuni (“oven”), Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐌷𐌽𐍃 (auhns, “oven”)), probably from a Proto-Indo-European *aukʷ- (“cooking pot”), *Hukʷ-, *ukʷnos (compare Sanskrit उखा (ukhā, “boiler, cauldron”), Albanian anë (“vessel, cooker”), Latin aulla, olla (“pot, jar”), Ancient Greek ἰπνός (ipnós, “oven, furnace”)). The modern pronunciation shows a sound change in which Middle English /ɔv/ is changed to /uv/; compare the phonetic development of Coventry and shovel.

1

Colloquial, Informal To cook in an oven.

  • I'm gonna oven the pie for about 30 minutes, mate.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.