Why do they call a stove-oven combo a range?

Answer 1

Attempts have been made to identify the origin of this use of the word 'range' without notable success. Although the usage can be tracked back to the mid-fifteenth century, lexicographers have not been able to pin down the origin. Perhaps it has to do with the cooking plates and oven areas being 'arranged' in a pattern usually common to other appliances called ranges, but this is no more than a guess and is quite possibly incorrect.