chimney English · revision 915

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈt͡ʃɪmni/, /ˈt͡ʃɪməni/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|chimenei]], [[bor|fro|cheminee|t=fireplace; chimney]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|la-lat|camīnāta|t=fireplace; room with a fireplace]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from [[la|camīnus|t=furnace, hearth, flue]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|grc|κάμινος|tr=káminos|t=furnace, oven]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) a word of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Figuratively, the furnace of hell or the mouth of a volcano (about 1280);^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) a fireplace or hearth (before 1330).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Late Latin word first meant a room with a stove.^(Etymonline) In English ''chimney'' first meant a fireplace or hearth, a sense surviving in ''chimney corner'' and ''chimney piece'',^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and then the passage or flue by which smoke escapes (c. 1400) and the part of the flue above the roof (c. 1340).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Middle English also had native words such as ''smoke-hole''.^(Etymonline) The name was extended to the funnel of a locomotive or steamship, the glass tube round a lamp flame, and a narrow vertical cleft in rock.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)^(RHWU) The phrase ''to smoke like a chimney'' dates from 1840.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1280 – the furnace of hell (figurative).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1330 – a fireplace, hearth.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1340 – the part of a flue above the roof.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1400 – the flue for smoke.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1611 – ''chimney sweep''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1840 – ''to smoke like a chimney''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A vertical structure containing a passage or [[flue]] through which smoke and gases escape from a fire or furnace; also, the part of it that rises above a roof.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[smokestack]], as of a ship or locomotive.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A glass tube enclosing the flame of a lamp.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Something resembling a chimney, such as a narrow vertical cleft in a rock face.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[chimneypiece]]

+ * [[chimney breast]]

+ * [[chimney pot]]

+ * [[chimney sweep]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[flue]]

+ * [[hearth]]

+ * [[furnace]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}