quilt English · revision 378

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkwɪlt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|quilte|t=mattress; quilt]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|xno|quilte]], ''coilte'', Old French ''cuilte'', ''coute'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) [[der|la|culcita|t=mattress, cushion]], a word of unknown origin.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) Modern French has ''couette''.^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==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).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Latin ''culcita'' meant a stuffed mattress or cushion, and in post-classical Latin also a blanket or coverlet.^(Cresswell 2021) In English the sense shifted from the mattress to the thick outer bed covering in the 16th century (1590s in Etymonline).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The word was also used of padded material worn under or instead of armour (1592) and of a medicinal pad (1601).^(OED 1989) The verb, to stitch together layers with padding between, dates from 1555,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) and figuratively to compile a work from scraps (1605).^(OED 1989) 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.^(Etymonline) An unrelated dialect and American verb ''quilt'' means to beat or thrash (1836).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1290 – a padded mattress.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1555 – verb, to stitch with padding.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1590s – a thick bed covering.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1592 – padded armour.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1824 – ''quilting bee''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # 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.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A thick covering resembling a quilt, or something made of many stitched-together parts, like a [[patchwork]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make into a quilt by stitching layers of fabric together with padding between.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To pad, line or stitch ornamentally, as in making a quilt.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # To make quilts or do quilted work.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[quilter]]

+ * [[bedquilt]]

+ * [[quilting]]

+ * [[crazy quilt]]

+ * [[continental quilt]]

+ * [[patchwork quilt]]

+ * [[quilting bee]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[counterpane]]

+ * [[duvet]]

+ * [[eiderdown]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}