Smythy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A workshop where a blacksmith heats and shapes metal, usually using a forge, anvil and hammer
2. The place where a smith works iron by heating it in a fire and beating it into shape
3. An old-fashioned name for the forge or workshop in which metal objects are hammered by hand

Etymology: Before it named a forge, "smith" meant any craftsman who worked hard materials. Old English "smiþ" was applied to workers in several substances, and the metalworking sense became dominant later. Compounds like "goldsmith" and "wordsmith" preserve the older, broader meaning. The word "smithy" adds a place suffix to "smith," so it means the workplace of a smith, and it was in use by Middle English. Forms spelled with a "y," like "smythy," are variants of the same word, not a separate one. The Proto-Germanic root behind "smith" is usually reconstructed as relating to striking or cutting, but the exact older meaning is uncertain, so the working-with-hands sense in Old English is the firmest ground.

Synonyms: forge, foundry