couch

The term couch originally denoted an item of furniture for lying or sleeping on.{{cite book |title=People and furniture: a social background to the English home. |last=Harrison |first=Molly |year=1971 |publisher=Ernest Benn |isbn=978-0-8747-10373 |page=[https://archive.org/details/peoplefurnitures00harr/page/55 55] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/peoplefurnitures00harr/page/55 }}{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gDR9pIE8IhIC&pg=PA135 |chapter=Home, Hearth, and Family |title=Now You Know Big Book of Answers |last=Lennox |first=Doug |year=2007 |publisher=Dundurn |isbn=978-1-55002-741-9 |language=en |via=Google Books |access-date=June 20, 2018}} Couch is predominantly used in North America, Australia, South Africa, and Ireland, whereas the terms sofa and settee (U and non-U) are most commonly used in the United Kingdom and India.{{Cite web |url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/collocations/couch|title=couch noun |url-access=subscription |website=Oxford Collocations Dictionary |access-date=June 19, 2020}} The word couch originated in Middle English from the Old French noun {{lang|fro|couche}}, which derived from the verb meaning "to lie down".AMHER, couch: Middle English from Old French culche, couche > couchier, coucher.

The word sofa comes from the Turkish{{Citation |title=sofa |date=2022-07-03 |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=sofa&oldid=67602937 |work=Wiktionary |language=en |access-date=2022-07-06}}{{Cite web |title=sofa {{!}} Etymology, origin and meaning of sofa by etymonline |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/sofa |access-date=2022-07-06 |website=www.etymonline.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Definition of SOFA |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sofa |access-date=2022-07-06 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Sofa, Couch or Settee: The History Of Where Each Word Came From |date=18 October 2018 |url=https://www.nabru.co.uk/blog/sofa-couch-or-settee-the-history-of-where-each-word-comes-from/}} language and is derived from the Arabic word {{transliteration|ar|suffah}} ("ledge/bench"), cognates with the Aramaic word {{lang|arc|sippa}} ("mat").AMHER, sofa: Turkish, from Arabic suffah, from Aramaic sippa, sippəta. Nathan Bailey in his Dictionarium Britannicum (1730) defines sofa as a "a sort of alcove much used in Asia ... furnished with rich carpets and cushions."{{sfn|Gloag|Edwards|1991|p=597|loc=Settee}}

The word settee or setee comes from the Old English word {{lang|ang|setl}}, which was used to describe long benches with high backs and arms, but is now generally used to describe small upholstered seating structures.{{Cite web|title=Definition of settee {{!}} Dictionary.com|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/settee|access-date=2020-10-02|publisher=www.dictionary.com|language=en}} Both "sofa" and "settee" terms came into use in the beginning of the 18th century. Originally the settee defined a smaller sofa, but by the 20th century the distinction was lost.{{sfn|Gloag|Edwards|1991|p=597|loc=Settee}}

Other terms which can be synonymous with the above definition are divan, davenport, lounge, and canapé''.

In Canadian English, the word chesterfield is used to describe any couch or sofa,{{cite book |editor1-last=Barber |editor1-first=Katherine |title=Canadian Oxford Dictionary |year=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-541816-3 |page=264 |edition=Second |access-date= |quote=any couch or sofa}} particularly among older Canadians. According to a 1992 survey conducted in the Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, the term is quickly vanishing.Chambers, J. K. "The Canada-U.S. border as a vanishing isogloss: the evidence of chesterfield". Journal of English Linguistics; 23 (1995): 156–66, excerpt at [http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~chambers/couch.html chass.utoronto.ca] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912210235/http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~chambers/couch.html |date=2007-09-12 }}.

File:Loriots Sofa.JPG sofa at the Deutsche Kinemathek museum, 2012]]

File:Wedding Couch.jpg

The most common types of couches include the two-seater, sometimes referred to as a loveseat, and the sofa. The loveseat is designed for seating two people, while the sofa has more than two cushion seats. A sectional sofa, often just referred to as a "sectional", is formed from multiple sections (typically two, three, or four) and usually includes at least two pieces which join at an angle of 90 degrees or slightly greater. Sectional sofas are used to wrap around walls or other furniture.

Other variants include the divan, the fainting couch (backless or partial-backed) and the canapé (an ornamental three-seater). To conserve space, some sofas double as beds in the form of sofa beds, daybeds, or futons.

File:Kubus sofa.jpg (1910)]]

A furniture set consisting of a sofa with two matching chairs{{cite web |url= http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/three-piece-suite?q=three-piece+suite |title=Three-piece-suite |publisher=Cambridge Dictionaries Online |access-date=2012-05-12}} is known as a "chesterfield suite"{{cite web |url= http://www.thefreedictionary.com/couch |title= Chesterfield suite |publisher=Merriam-Webster |access-date=2012-05-12}} or "living-room suite".{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/living-room-suite?q=living+room+suite |title=Living room suite |publisher=Cambridge Dictionaries Online |access-date=2012-05-12}} In the UK, the word chesterfield was used to refer to any couch in the 1900s. A chesterfield now describes a deep buttoned sofa, usually made from leather, with arms and back of the same height. The first chesterfield, with its distinctive deep buttoned, quilted (or "tufted"{{Cite web |last=Wade |first=Olin |date=2022-07-24 |title=What is the purpose of tufting? |url=https://www.remodelormove.com/what-is-the-purpose-of-tufting/ |access-date=2024-08-04 |website=www.remodelormove.com |language=en-us}}) leather upholstery and lower seat base, was commissioned by Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773).

A couch consists of a frame, springs, padding, and a covering. The frame is usually made of wood, but can also be made of steel, plastic or laminated boards. Sofa padding is made from foam, down, feathers, fabric or a combination thereof. Sofa coverings are usually made out of soft leather, corduroy or linen. Couches commonly have springs under the padding for more support, although some don't.{{cite web |last1=Kramer |first1=Jennifer |title=How products are made |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/fashion-design-and-crafts/interior-design-and-home-furnishings/sofa |website=encyclopedia.com |access-date=22 June 2022}}

File:N°0407 canapé 'Vallois' réalisé par les Ateliers Allot Frères.jpg|A two-seater upholstered loveseat

File:Sofa3800ppx.jpg|A leather couch

File:ملایر .مبل.jpg|Sofa steel production malayer

File:Couch Furniture.JPG|An upholstered couch

File:Settee Attributed to Joseph Walter, c. 1770.jpg|English Settee, c. 1770

File:Couch MET figure 178R7 24B.jpg|Roman style couch for reclining

• Bean bag chair
• Chaise longue, a similar elongated piece intended for a single person
• Couch potato
• Davenport (sofa)
• Divan (furniture)
• Klippan (sofa)
• Ottoman (furniture)
• Settle (furniture), wooden furniture with similar usage
• Slipcover
• Wing chair
• Window seat (type of sofa)

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book | last=Gloag | first=John | last2=Edwards | first2=Clive | title=A Complete Dictionary of Furniture | publisher=Overlook Books | publication-place=Woodstock, N.Y | date=1991 | isbn=0-87951-414-0}}

• {{cite encyclopaedia |first=Gordon |last=Campbell |year=2006 |article=Sofa |encyclopedia=The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts |volume=2 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-518948-3 |page=369}}

• {{Wiktionary-inline}}

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Category:Furniture

Category:Upholstery