Etymologically
Log in

carpet

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:58. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈkɑː.pɪt/ (UK); /ˈkɑɹ.pət/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English carpete, borrowed from Old French carpite (“heavy decorated cloth”) and Medieval Latin carpita,[2][3][4] from Old Italian carpita, a thick woollen cloth or counterpane, originally made of shreds,[2][4][5] from Vulgar Latin *carpīre, for Latin carpere (“to pluck, card wool”),[2][6] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *kerp- (“to gather, pluck, harvest”) (see harvest).[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A thick fabric used to cover tables or beds: 1345.[2][7] Etymonline has carpet, coarse cloth, from the late 13th century.[3]

Semantic evolution

A floor covering is from the 15th century (1438–60 in the OED), and since the 18th century it has been the main sense.[7][3][4] Word Origins and Trench explain that on the carpet, under discussion, referred to the cloth of the council table (1726);[8][9][7] it later came to mean being reprimanded, from servants walking the carpet before their master (1823).[7][8] By association with ladies' rooms it gave carpet-knight, a soldier who has never seen service (1570s).[3] The verb, to cover with a carpet, is from the 1620s, and to reprimand from 1823.[3]

Timeline

  • 1345 – a table or bed covering.[2][7]
  • 1438 – a floor covering.[7]
  • 1570s – carpet-knight.[3]
  • 1620s – the verb.[3]
  • 1726 – on the carpet, under discussion.[7]
  • 1823 – to reprimand.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A thick woven or felted floor covering, usually of wool or synthetic fibre.
  2. A thick layer covering a surface: a carpet of leaves.

Verb

  1. To cover with a carpet or similar layer.
  2. (British, informal) To reprimand.

Word family

  • carpetless
  • carpetlike
  • carpetbag
  • carpet-bomb
  • carpeting
  • red-carpet
  • recarpet
  • Brussels carpet
  • harvest
  • excerpt
  • carpetbagger

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker