couch English · revision 7108

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1340|origins=la colloco}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kaʊ̯t͡ʃ/; /kæʊ̯t͡ʃ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English couche, [[bor|fro|couche|t=a bed, lair]], earlier culche,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|fro|couchier|t=to lay down, put to bed]], from [[la|colloco|alt=collocāre|t=to place together, put in place]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|la|com-|t=together]] and [[m|la|loco|alt=locāre|t=to place]] (see [[locate]]).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is a doublet of [[collocate]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A bed or other structure for sleeping on: 1340, in the ''Ayenbite of Inwyt''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) The verb, to lay something down or overlay, is from about 1300.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The lair of a wild beast is from 1398, and now especially the burrow of an otter.^(OED 1989) A long seat on which one reclines is from the mid-15th century; traditionally a couch has only the head end raised.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The verb, to lie down, is late 14th-century, and to lie hidden from the 1580s.^(Etymonline) To put into words is from 1529, in Thomas More, and to express in a veiled way from 1563.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The psychoanalyst's couch is a symbol of psychiatric treatment by 1952,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the ''couch potato'' is first recorded in 1979.^(Etymonline) The heraldic [[couchant]] is late 15th-century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – to lay down (verb).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1340 – a bed.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-15th century – a reclining seat.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1529 – to put into words.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1952 – the analyst's couch.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1979 – couch potato.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A long upholstered piece of furniture for sitting or lying on; a [[sofa]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A padded bed on which patients lie to be examined or psychoanalysed.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To express in a particular style of words: ''couched in legal terms''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To lower a spear or lance to the position of attack.^(COED 2004)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To lie down, especially to sleep or hide.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[coucher]]

+ * [[couch potato]]

+ * [[casting couch]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[couchant]]

+ * [[collocate]]

+ * [[locate]]

+ * [[couchette]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Couch grass, a creeping weed, is a different word, a variant of [[quitch]], from Old English cwice, living (see [[quick]]); it is recorded from the 1570s.^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}