kiln
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of kiln
before 900; Middle English kiln ( e ), Old English cylen < Latin culīna kitchen
Explanation
A kiln is a special kind of oven for firing things like pottery and bricks. A ceramic artist might use a kiln once a week to fire the bowls he's made from clay. Some kilns look more like furnaces than ovens, and they reach temperatures far beyond regular household ovens. Electricity is used to power many modern kilns, while others use older techniques of burning wood or even coal. Making mugs and bowls is the primary use of kilns, but there are some that dry lumber, tobacco leaves, or hops as well. The Old English word was cyln, from the Latin root culina, "kitchen or cooking stove."
Vocabulary lists containing kiln
A Single Shard
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Visual Arts - Introductory
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Visual Arts - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At a cavernous facility in Morbi, in India's western Gujarat state, a 200-metre-long propane-powered kiln that normally fires clay nonstop is silent.
From Barron's • Mar. 29, 2026
Conch and Huawei have developed AI tools for more precisely predicting clinker strength, as well as for controlling energy use at the kiln where it is made.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 25, 2025
I became addicted to the feel of clay, the triumph-failure cycle of the wheel, the loop-de-loop of joy and horror when pieces finally emerged from the kiln.
From Salon • Dec. 16, 2024
Her dream was always to have a studio at home, invest in a kiln and save money on studio expenses.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 21, 2024
There’s a collage of pictures: the crew team with their new equipment, the kiln in the art room, and even one of those high-tech security cameras that are all over campus now.
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
