quilt

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkwɪlt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English quilte (“mattress; quilt”),^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman quilte, coilte, Old French cuilte, coute,^{[2][3][5][4][6][7]} from Latin culcita (“mattress, cushion”), a word of unknown origin.^{[2][3][5][4][6][7]} Modern French has couette.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

An article of bedding consisting of two pieces of fabric with soft stuffing between, used as a mattress to lie on (c. 1290 in the OED; probably about 1300 in Barnhart).^[8][3][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Latin culcita meant a stuffed mattress or cushion, and in post-classical Latin also a blanket or coverlet.^[7] In English the sense shifted from the mattress to the thick outer bed covering in the 16th century (1590s in Etymonline).^[3][5][6] The word was also used of padded material worn under or instead of armour (1592) and of a medicinal pad (1601).^[8] The verb, to stitch together layers with padding between, dates from 1555,^[8][3][4][5] and figuratively to compile a work from scraps (1605).^[8] The quilting bee, a social gathering of women to help one of their number quilt a counterpane, originally a New England custom, is attested from 1824.^[5] An unrelated dialect and American verb quilt means to beat or thrash (1836).^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1290 – a padded mattress.^[8]
• 1555 – verb, to stitch with padding.^[8][3][4]
• 1590s – a thick bed covering.^[5]
• 1592 – padded armour.^[8]
• 1824 – quilting bee.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A bed covering made of two layers of fabric with a filling of wool, cotton, feathers or down between, all stitched firmly together, usually in a decorative pattern.
2. A thick covering resembling a quilt, or something made of many stitched-together parts, like a patchwork.

Verb

1. To make into a quilt by stitching layers of fabric together with padding between.
2. To pad, line or stitch ornamentally, as in making a quilt.
3. To make quilts or do quilted work.

Word family

• quilter
• bedquilt
• quilting
• crazy quilt
• continental quilt
• patchwork quilt
• quilting bee

Related words

• counterpane
• duvet
• eiderdown

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press