mattress

noun

1. a. A usually rectangular pad of heavy cloth filled with soft material or an arrangement of coiled springs, used as or on a bed.
   b. An airtight inflatable pad used as or on a bed or as a cushion.
2. A closely woven mat of brush and poles used to protect an embankment, a dike, or a dam from erosion.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English mattresse

Origin: , from Old French materas

Origin: , from Old Italian materasso

Origin: and from Medieval Latin matracium

Origin: , both from Arabic maṭraḥ, place where something is thrown, mat, cushion

Origin: , from ṭaraḥa, to throw; see ṭrḥ in Semitic roots

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Word History: The history of the word mattress is a small lesson in the way amenities have come to Europe from the Middle East. During the earlier part of the Middle Ages, Arabic culture was more advanced than that of Europe. One of the amenities of life enjoyed by the Arabs was sleeping on cushions thrown on the floor. Derived from the Arabic word ṭaraḥa, “to throw,” the word maṭraḥ meant “place where something is thrown” and “mat, cushion.” This kind of sleeping surface was adopted by the Europeans during the Crusades, and the Arabic word was taken into Old Italian (materasso) and then into Old French (materas), from which comes the Middle English word materas, first recorded in a work written around 1300. The Arabic word also became Medieval Latin matracium, another source of our word.