Ottoman (furniture)
An ottoman is a piece of furniture consisting of a padded, upholstered seat or bench, usually having neither a back nor arms, often used as a stool or footstool,[1][2] or in some cases as a coffee table.[3] Ottomans are often sold as coordinating furniture with armchairs or gliders.[4]
An ottoman can also be known as a footstool,[5] tuffet,[6] hassock,[7] or pouffe.[8][9] Some ottomans are hollow and used for storage.[10]
Ottomans can be used in other rooms besides the living room, different designs can be used in the bedroom, gaming room, family room and guest room.[11] Leather and bench ottomans are also used as alternatives to sofas.[12]
History[edit]
The ottoman was brought to Europe from Turkey in the late 18th century. The word ottomane to refer to furniture appeared by at least 1729 in French.[13] The first known recorded use in English occurs in one of Thomas Jefferson's memorandum books from 1789: "P[ai]d. for an Ottomane of velours d'Utrecht."[14] In Turkey, an ottoman was the central piece of family seating, and was piled with cushions. In Europe, the ottoman was first designed as a piece of fitted furniture that wrapped around three walls of a room. The ottoman evolved into a smaller version that fit into the corner of a room.[15]
Ottomans took on a circular or octagonal shape through the 19th century, with seating divided in the center by arms or a central, padded column that might hold a plant or statue. As night clubs became more popular, so did the ottoman which began to have hinged seats underneath to hold magazines.[15]
References[edit]
- ^ "Ottoman". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved May 2012.
- ^ "Ottoman". The Free Dictionary By Farlex. Retrieved May 2012.
- ^ "How to Use Ottomans for Coffee Tables". Overstock.com. Retrieved May 2012.
- ^ "How to Match an Ottoman and Chair". Overstock.com. Retrieved May 2012.
- ^ "Footstool". The Free Dictionary By Farlex. Retrieved May 2012.
- ^ "Tuffet". The Free Dictionary By Farlex. Retrieved May 2012.
- ^ "Hassock". The Free Dictionary By Farlex. Retrieved May 2012.
- ^ "Pouf (seat)". Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Retrieved May 2012.
- ^ "Pouf". dictionary.reference.com. Retrieved May 2012.
- ^ "Furniture Ottoman". Indobase.com. Retrieved May 2012.
- ^ "Ottomans For Decoration and Storage". Public Design Center. Retrieved May 2012.
- ^ "Ottomans For Decoration and Storage". Public Design Center. Retrieved May 2012.
- ^
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ottoman". Encyclopædia Britannica 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 376. - ^ Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. "ottoman", accessed 6 March 2013.
- ^ a b "Ottoman". Britannica. Retrieved May 2012.
External links[edit]
 |
Look up Ottoman in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- Aronson, Joseph. Encyclopedia of Furniture.
- "Ottoman". EtymologyOnLine.
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