andiron

• handiron (obsolete)

From Middle English aundire, aundiren, from Old French andier (possibly from Gaulish anderon (“heifer”)) compare Welsh anner, annair (“heifer”), Breton annoar (“heifer”), from Proto-Celtic *anderā (“young woman”), due either to their somewhat animal-like appearance of four legs or to the prominent figuring of bull and heifer design elements; compare its alternative names of fire-dog and dog-iron. Spelling influenced by iron.

• IPA^(key): /ˈændaɪə(ɹ)n/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

andiron (plural andirons)

1. (usually in the plural) A utensil for supporting wood when burning in a fireplace, one being placed on each side

   Synonym: (chiefly US) fire dog

   • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter 7, in The House Behind the Cedars:

     The furniture was old-fashioned and massive. The great brass andirons on the wide hearth stood like sentinels proclaiming and guarding the dignity of the family. The spreading antlers on the wall testified to a mighty hunter in some past generation.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:andiron.

• nonarid