A stove or heating appliance designed specifically for cooking food, typically burning wood, coal, or gas.
Compound of 'cook' (to prepare food with heat) and 'stove' (from Middle Dutch 'stoof,' a heated room or apparatus). The term became standardized in the 19th century as these became common household items.
The invention of the reliable cookstove in the 1800s was revolutionary for women—it reduced cooking time dramatically and made kitchens less dangerously hot than open fireplaces, though it also made women spend MORE time cooking fancier meals.
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