Art & MusicGreek → English
Chimney
/ˈtʃɪmni/noun
A vertical flue that carries smoke from a fire out through the roof.
The Greek roots
κάμινος
káminos
furnace, kiln, oven
Literally: “furnace”
Follow a root:κάμινος1 word
The story of the word
Κάμινος is the kiln: the potter's furnace, the smelter's oven. Late Latin turned it into caminata, a room with a fireplace, and Old French cheminee narrowed it down to the flue, which reached English around 1300, just as built chimneys were spreading through stone houses. Before that the smoke left through a hole in the roof, and the whole hall smelled of it.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Late Latin → Old French → English
- First recorded
- c. 1300
In a sentence
Jackdaws nested in the chimney every spring and nothing discouraged them.