furniture English · revision 6830

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1529|origins=fro furnir}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈfɜː.nɪ.t͡ʃə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈfɝ.nɪ.t͡ʃɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|fourniture|t=a supply; the act of furnishing]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) from [[fro|forneture]] (13th century),^(Etymonline) from [[m|fro|furnir|t=to furnish]] (see [[furnish]]).^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The action of fitting out or equipping: 1529 in the OED and MWU,^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) the 1520s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 16th and 17th centuries it also meant decoration,^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989) equipment for body or mind (1560),^(OED 1989) and a stock or supply of anything.^(OED 1989) The sense of chairs, tables and other movable articles in a house is from the 1570s;^(Etymonline) Etymonline notes that it is peculiar to English, as most other European languages name furniture from Latin ''mobilis'', movable.^(Etymonline) Other senses are the trappings of a horse,^(AHD) the fittings of a ship or factory, the wooden parts of a rifle, and in printing the pieces used to fill blank spaces in a forme.^(Collins 2023) In Scots and northern dialect ''furniture'' was also a verb, to furnish.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1529 – the action of equipping.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1560 – equipment, outfit.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1570s – the movable articles in a house.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The movable articles, such as [[chair|alt=chairs]], [[table|alt=tables]] and [[bed|alt=beds]], that make a room or building fit to live or work in.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The equipment needed for a ship, factory or [[saddle]] horse.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(printing)'' Pieces of wood or metal used to fill the blank areas around [[type]].^(Collins 2023)

+ # The characteristic attitudes or furnishings of a person's mind: ''mental furniture''.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[furnitureless]]

+ * [[unfurnitured]]

+ * [[furniture beetle]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[furnish]]

+ * [[furnishings]]

+ * [[mobile]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}