mattress
noun
- a casing of strong fabric filled with cotton, hair, foam rubber, etc., usually containing coiled springs, often quilted or tufted at intervals, and used on or as a bed
- an inflatable pad used in the same way
- a mass or mat of interwoven brushwood, poles, etc. used to protect an embankment or dike from erosion, etc.
See mattress in American Heritage Dictionary 4
(mătˈrĭs)
nouna. 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.
- A closely woven mat of brush and poles used to protect an embankment, a dike, or a dam from erosion.
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.
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