Ascribed to a Proto-Indo-European root *h₂uk-, *h₂ewk- (“a closed container or vessel for cooking; cookpot; oven”) or similar by equation with Sanskrit उखा (ukhā), Albanian anë, Ancient Greek ἰπνός (ipnós), Latin ōlla. It is unclear whether the byform *ufnaz (Proto-West Germanic *ofn) is the same word, or represents a different word altogether. More at *aflaz.
Kroonen suggests that the word is a Wanderwort from a pre-IE substrate language, adducing Hittite 𒄩𒀊𒁉𒈾𒀸 (ḫa-ap-pé-na-aš /ḫapːenas/, “baking kiln, fire-pit, broiler (oven)”), Old Prussian wumpnis (“oven”) as additional cognates. Native terms for ovens and stoves are not taken for granted: the East Slavic term плита́ (plitá, “stove”) appears from Ancient Greek in the Middle Ages, against the earlier new formation печь (pečʹ, “oven”), and Arabic, in a warmer climate, seems to have many but no native terms: أَتُّون (ʔattūn), تَنُّور (tannūr), فُرْن (furn), قَمِين (qamīn).
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | *uhnaz | *uhnōz, *uhnōs |
vocative | *uhn | *uhnōz, *uhnōs |
accusative | *uhną | *uhnanz |
genitive | *uhnas, *uhnis | *uhnǫ̂ |
dative | *uhnai | *uhnamaz |
instrumental | *uhnō | *uhnamiz |