soft, raised surface upon cloth, mid-14c., downy plumage, from Anglo-French pyle or Middle Dutch pijl, both from Latin pilus a hair (source of Italian pelo, Old French pel). Phonological evidence rules out transmission of the English word via Old French cognate peil, poil. Meaning nap upon cloth is from 1560s.
Updated 01/08/17. 1  of 06. Gas Furnace Types and Efficiency Ratings BanksPhotos / Getty Images The gas furnace in your home is a critically important appliance and one you depend on to work reliably, efficiently and quietly. 2  of 06. Low Efficiency Furnace: 55% to 72% AFUE (obsolete technology) Characteristics. 3  of 06.
oil burner, oil furnace-a furnace that burns oil. open-hearth furnace-a furnace for making steel in which the steel is placed on a shallow hearth and flames of burning gas and hot air play over it. register-a regulator (as a sliding plate) for regulating the flow of air into a furnace or other heating device.. An enclosure in which energy in a nonthermal form is converted to heat, especially such an enclosure in which heat is generated by the combustion of a suitable fuel. 2. An intensely hot place: the furnace of the sun; an attic room that is a furnace in the summer.