Today's Word "inglenook"
Published in Vocabulary
inglenook \ING-gl-nuk\ (noun) - The corner of a large open fireplace with space on either side of the hearth or built-in stove.
"Jerzey wouldn't recommend putting plants in the inglenooks lest the fire reduce them to the vegetable course of dinner."
In medieval times, fires were located in the middle of the room and the smoke wandered freely up through the thatched roof. Later on, the fire (ingle) was moved to a side wall and a smoke cover was added. Walls were next added on either side of the hearth, to form a room within a room. People could walk in and out of an inglenook fireplace or sit on the ingle-benches in its inglenooks to keep warm. Ingle "hearth fire" probably comes from Scots Gaelic aingeal "fire, light." "Nook" comes to us from Middle English "nok," probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian dialectal nok "hook."
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