Editing Couch (section)

==Etymology==
The term ''couch'' originally denoted an item of furniture for lying or sleeping on.<ref>{{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 }}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> ''Couch'' is predominantly used in [[North America]], [[Australia]], [[South Africa]], and [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], whereas the terms ''sofa'' and ''settee'' ([[U and non-U]]) are most commonly used in the [[United Kingdom]] and [[India]].<ref>{{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}}</ref> The word ''couch'' originated in [[Middle English]] from the [[Old French]] noun ''{{lang|fro|couche}}'', which derived from the verb meaning "to lie down".<ref>[[AMHER]], ''couch'': Middle English from Old French ''culche'', ''couche'' > ''couchier'', ''coucher''.</ref>

The word ''sofa'' comes from the [[Turkish language|Turkish]]<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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/}}</ref> language and is derived from the [[Arabic language|Arabic]] word ''{{transliteration|ar|suffah}}'' ("ledge/bench"), cognates with the [[Aramaic]] word ''{{lang|arc|sippa}}'' ("[[mat]]").<ref>[[AMHER]], ''sofa'': Turkish, from Arabic ''suffah'', from Aramaic ''sippa'', ''sippəta''.</ref> [[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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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 (furniture)|divan]]'', ''[[davenport (sofa)|davenport]]'', ''lounge'', and ''[[Canapé (furniture)|canapé]]''.<ref name="thefreedictionary" />
In [[Canadian English]], the word ''chesterfield'' is used to describe any couch or sofa,<ref>{{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}}</ref> particularly among older Canadians. According to a 1992 survey conducted in the [[Golden Horseshoe]] region of [[Ontario]], the term is quickly vanishing.<ref>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 }}.</ref>