sofa

Forms

sofa m (plural sofas)^[1] Middle French soffa (1519) and sopha (1560), the latter still written in the 17th century;^[2][3] sofa is found from 1654.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Turkish sofa (“raised platform”), which is from Arabic صُفَّة (ṣuffa, “cushion on a saddle, platform or bench in a mosque, divan”).^[2][4] Bloch and Wartburg and the DHLF also derive it from the Arabic word, probably or certainly through Turkish,^[5][3] while the Grand Robert and the GLLF give the Arabic word alone.^[6][7] Wiktionary takes the Arabic word back to Aramaic.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears as soffa in 1519, in Balarin de Raconis's translation of Spandugino's Genealogie du grant Turc, for the seat the Turks so call: in the East, a raised platform covered with carpets and cushions, where honoured guests were received.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Postel described the sopha in 1560 as a place made of boards, and the platform was where the grand vizier gave audience.^[2][3] In 1689 sopha is found for a day bed with two or three backs,^[2] a sense that Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF date to 1657;^[5][7] the Académie's first edition (1694) gives both senses, the bed being one “in use in France for a short time”, and names les honneurs du sofa, the place given to the French ambassadors.^[8][2] In Quebec French sofa is used where France says canapé, beside divan, with sofa-lit for a sofa bed.^[3]

Timeline

• 1519 – Soffa appears in Balarin de Raconis.^[2]
• 1560 – Postel writes sopha for the Turkish platform.^[2][7]
• 1654 – Du Loir uses the spelling sofa.^[2]
• 1657 – La Boullaye uses sopha for a day bed.^[7][5]
• 1692 – Callières calls the sofa a Turkish-style day bed.^[2]
• 1694 – The Académie records both senses.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A couch with three backs that serves as a seat and a bed, a canapé or divan.^[9][2]
2. (history) In the East, a raised platform covered with carpets and cushions, used as a seat of honour.^[9][2]

Related words

• English sofa

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 19, 161
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Académie française (1694), Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie françoise, 1st ed., Paris: Coignard
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert