sofa

sofas (plural)
sopha (alternative obsolete)

→ Assamese: চোফা (süpha)

→ Burmese: ဆိုဖာ (hcuihpa)

→ Cantonese: 梳化 (so¹ faa³⁻²)

→ Hindi: सोफ़ा (sofā)

→ Japanese: ソファ (sofa)

→ Kashubian: zofa

→ Korean: 소파 (sopa) (Canada)

→ Norman: sofa

→ Penang Hokkien: sofa

→ Swahili: sofa

→ Thai: โซฟา (soo-faa)

→ Urdu: صوفہ (sofā)

→ Welsh: soffa

→ Wu: 沙發 /沙发 (¹so-faq₇)

→ Mandarin: 沙發 /沙发 (shāfā)

desc

→ Lü: ᦌᦱᧈᦝᦱᧉ (saa¹faa²)

→ Lü: ᦌᦱᧈᦝᦱᧉ (saa¹faa²)

→ Mongolian: шафа (šafa), ᠱᠠᠹᠠ (šafa)

→ Uyghur: سافا (safa)

→ Wutunhua: shafa

→ Zhuang: sahfaz

Borrowed from French sofa, ultimately from Arabic صُفَّة (ṣuffa, “a long seat made of stone or brick, covered with rich carpets and cushions and used for sitting”). Cognate with Aramaic צפא/Classical Syriac ܨܦܬܐ (ṣipā’, ṣeppəṯā, “mat, matting”). The word may have entered European languages via Muslim Iberia or through Turkish.

cog

ṣipā’, ṣeppəṯā

His eyes trailed over her feline pose on the sofa, finding her limbs adorable while he tried exasperatedly to extract the truth of licentious revelations from them.

1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 228:

(furniture) An upholstered seat with a raised back and one or two raised ends, long enough to comfortably accommodate two or more people.


lowboy

Possibly from low + French bois (“wood”).

Coordinate term: tallboy

Puffing rhythmically, Jones set one of his beautiful dragon-entwined flambeaux on the low-boy with the gleaming drinks […].

1969, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 38, in Ada, or, Ardor: A Family Chronicle, Harmondsworth, London: Penguin Books, published 1970, →ISBN, part 1, page 195:


bail

From Middle English beyle, from Old English bīeġels, from bīeġan + -els.

(furniture) Normally curved handle suspended between sockets as a drawer pull. This may also be on a kettle or pail.


ottoman

en-noun

ottoman (countable and uncountable, plural ottomans)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-ottoman.wav

From Ottoman in the early 19th century; so named because reclining on a couch was associated with Middle Eastern customs.

In the middle of the room there is a big ottoman; and this, with the carpet, the Morris wall-papers, and the Morris chintz window curtains and brocade covers of the ottoman and its cushions, supply all the ornament, and are much too handsome to be hidden by odds and ends of useless things.

1912 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Pygmalion”, in Androcles and the Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion, London: Constable and Company, published 1916, →OCLC, Act III, page 144:

A 39-year-old British woman was killed when a malfunctioning ottoman bed fell on her neck and asphyxiated her, a coroner’s report said.

2024 October 14, Issy Ronald, “Woman killed by malfunctioning ottoman bed”, in CNN:

(furniture) An upholstered sofa, without arms or a back, sometimes with a compartment for storing linen etc.

This ottoman is set on casters, and is a great convenience for holding articles, while serving also as a seat.

1869, Catherine E. Beecher, Harriet Beecher Stowe, The American Woman’s Home:

(furniture) A low stool or thick cushion used to rest the feet or as a seat.


washstand

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-washstand.wav

The less quality the more saleable they were. An abhorrent-looking stained oak wash-stand with a marble top and inset tiles, or a sideboard with bevelled mirrors in the back, or an enamelled wardrobe with stamped wood panels were much preferred to comparatively innocuous examples of the same articles in plain wood.

1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 70:

(furniture) A table containing a basin and a pitcher of water for washing.


tuffet

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-tuffet.wav

From Old French touffel, diminutive of touffe (“tuft”). Regarding etymological and semantic uncertainty, see Wikipedia at Little Miss Muffet § Tuffet and §§ Uncertain meaning.

(furniture) A large cushion which may have an internal frame, used as a low seat or stool.


sideboard

(furniture) A piece of dining room furniture having drawers and shelves for linen and tableware; originally for serving food.


tête-à-tête

tête-à-têtes (plural)
tete-a-tete (alternative)
tête à tête (alternative)
tete a tete (alternative)

Borrowed from French tête-à-tête (“head-to-head”).

(furniture) A bench or sofa that allows two people to talk face-to-face, especially one that is S-shaped.


bookshelf

Another, with the bump of order unnaturally developed, had his folios and quartos all reduced, in binding, to one size, so that they might look even on his bookshelves.

1902, William Blades, The Enemies of Books, 2nd edition, page 102:

(furniture) A shelf or shelves for storing books for easy visual reference.


manchette

(furniture) An upholstered arm on a wooden-frame chair like a bergère or fauteuil.


occasional table

occasional table (plural occasional tables)

From occasional (“for an occasion”) + table.

A cushion-covered divan; three-piece lounge-suite; occasional table, writing table and radio constituted the principal pieces[.]

1936, F.J. Thwaites, chapter XI, in The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards, published 1940, page 119:

(furniture) Any small table, such as an end table, which has no particular function and may typically be folded away.

bijzettafel

small table having no particular function


tabletop

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-tabletop.wav

(furniture) The flat, horizontal upper surface of a table.


whorl foot

A French design, the whorl foot was first seen on furniture in the mid-18th century.

(furniture) A foot that takes the form of a scroll at the end that rests on a shoe.


tea table

tea tables (plural)
tea-table (alternative)
teatable (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-tea table.wav

Having abundance of roses and ferns and a very artistic taste of her own, she made that tea table such a thing of beauty that when the minister and his wife sat down to it, they exclaimed in chorus over its loveliness.

1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables:

(furniture) A small table upon which tea is set to be served.


tallboy

tallboys (plural)
tall boy (alternative)
tall-boy (alternative)

By surface analysis, tall + boy, but the furniture sense may have been originally modeled after lowboy, related to French bois (“wood”).

Coordinate term: (without the wardrobe) lowboy

(furniture) A tall chest of drawers, or combination of chest on chest, or chest with a small wardrobe on top. Usually with low bracket feet but always resulting in a tall piece of furniture.


coffee table

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-coffee table.wav

We were just settling ourselves around the coffee-table, when several friends from the parsonage arrived.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 26:

(furniture) A long, low table, often placed in front of a sofa or seating area in a living room.

(furniture, originally) A table from which coffee is served.


bonheur du jour

bonheur du jour (plural bonheurs du jour)

/bɒˌnɜː d(j)uː ˈʒʊə/

/bəˌnɝ də ˈʒʊɹ/

Borrowed from French bonheur-du-jour (literally “daytime delight”), conjectured to be from its sudden rise in popularity.

bor

(historical, furniture) An 18th- and 19th-century lady's portable writing desk with a raised back.


occasional furniture

(furniture) Small, versatile pieces of furniture designed for flexible use within a home.


demilune

demi-lune (alternative)
demi lune (alternative)

A handsome pair of tall, walnut-veneered Biedermeier bookcases from Austria, circa 1835, can be had from Iliad Antik of New York for $95,000, while Clinton Howell of New York has a rare pair of marquetry inlaid demilune consoles that he attributes to the workshop of John Linnell of England, circa 1755.

2007 February 9, Wendy Moonan, “Relics of the 19th Century, in a Sentimental Mood”, in New York Times:

(architecture, furniture) In the shape of a half-moon, i.e. semicircular.


gateleg

Now that's a nice gateleg table in the corner there. Though of course you'd have to put new hinges on it if you wanted to use the flaps.

1949 June 8, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 8, in Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC; republished [Australia]: Project Gutenberg of Australia, August 2001, part 1, page 90:

(furniture, also attributive) A table leg, set into a frame in the form of a gate, that may be swung back to allow a leaf of the tabletop to hang down.

hekpoot

table leg set into a frame in the form of a gate


starbase

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-starbase.wav

(furniture) Alternative form of star base


spade foot

en-noun

spade foot (plural spade foots or spade feet)

spade foots (plural)
spade feet (plural)

The spade foot leg may be used as an alternate design.

1929 June, Charles A. King, “Constructing a Piano Bench”, in Popular Science, volume 114, number 6, page 79:

Also, the glazing pattern of the bookcase traces simple diamonds rather than more elaborate arches or other curved elements, and the tapered legs end without a spade foot or an additional taper at the cuff.

2004, Philip D. Zimmerman, Charles Thomas Butler, Catherine E. Hutchins, American Federal Furniture and Decorative Arts from the Watson Collection, →ISBN, page 93:

First was his straight tapered leg, sometimes with a spade foot, at other times tipped in brass.

2011, George Grotz, The Furniture Doctor, →ISBN:

(furniture) A block-shaped foot higher than wide and tapering slightly toward the bottom. The spade foot usually terminates a tapering leg, and the top of the foot is wider than the leg.


dry sink

Called dry because there is no connection to plumbing pipes.

(furniture) a type of cabinet used to hold a washbasin and water pitcher, sometimes including splashboards.

washstand

a type of table used to hold a washbasin and water pitcher


Empire

However, the first style of this century was known as Empire furniture. It was a derivative of the French Empire furniture, popular at that time.

1997, Mark McGrail, Furniture Brasses: A Short History of English Furniture Fittings, Armac Brassworks, →ISBN, page 21:

(fashion, furniture, art) Following or imitating a style popular during the First French Empire (1804–1814).

...and for a moment he could not identify the lady in the Empire dress, nor imagine why her presence created such excitement among the initiated.

1920, Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence, New York: Random House, →OCLC, page 17:

(of a woman's dress) Having the waistline just below the bust; featuring an empire waist.


pencil-post bed

pencil-post bed (plural pencil-post beds)

(furniture) A type of bed modeled after the English field bed, consisting of four slender, octagonal posts.


star base

From star + base, denoting a starshaped basal structure.

(furniture) A base for furniture, where multiple arms radiate out from a central post that supports the furniture.


Cromwellian chair

Cromwellian chair (plural Cromwellian chairs)

(furniture) A kind of leather chair, studded (ornamented with nailheads), having a rectangular seat and separate rectangular back, from the time of Cromwell; a later example made in the manner of such chairs.


nstd

(logistics, furniture, computing) Abbreviation of nested.


balloon back

(historical, furniture) A chairback of rounded shape which tapers to form a balloon shape at the seat.


neck pillow

(sleep, furniture) Any pillow shaped to support the sleeper's neck, especially those used alone or outside of a bed.


blanket chest

(furniture) A piece of furniture with or without drawers, consisting of a hinged lid, a deep well, designed for storing blankets, bedding, or clothing.


wall table

wall tables (plural)
wall-table (alternative)

"Of course, it's a bit battered, but it would do up quite nicely. And that wall-table - is that the one the woman wanted, that one with the ball and claw legs? She had good taste; it's a really good thing. Only they've ruined it with coats of varnish."

1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 49:

(furniture) A type of table designed to be placed against or mounted on a wall.


occasional bookcase

occasional bookcase (plural occasional bookcases)

Coordinate term: occasional table

(furniture) A bookcase or shelving unit that is small, lightweight, and easily moved.


china cabinet

(furniture) A piece of furniture, usually with glass fronts and sides, used to hold and display porcelain or other ceramics.


storage unit

(furniture) A type of cupboard, typically with doors and shelves, used for organizing and storing various items within a home or office.