cushion

cushion
\ \ [14] Ultimately, cushion and quilt are the same word. Both come from Latin culcitamattress, cushion’, which is related to Sanskrit kūrcásbundle’, and both reached English via rather circuitous routes. In Gallo-Roman (the descendant of Latin spoken in France from the 5th to the 9th centuries) culcita underwent a transformation which produced Old French coissin and cussin, which Middle English borrowed as quisshon and cushin. The complexity of forms spawned by these was quite staggering – the OED records nearly seventy spellings of the word – but by the 17th century things had settled down, with cushion emerging the winner. Cushy [20], incidentally, is quite unrelated, being a borrowing from Hindi khūshpleasant’.
\ \ Cf.QUILT

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • cushion — [koosh′ən] n. [ME cuisshin < OFr coissin < ML coxinum, altered (after L coxa, hip) < Gallo Roman * culcinum, for L culcita, cushion, QUILT] 1. a pillow or soft pad for sitting or kneeling on, or reclining against; specif., a removable… …   English World dictionary

  • Cushion — Cush ion (k??sh ?n), n. [OE. cuischun, quisshen, OF. coissin, cuissin, F. coussin, fr. (assumed) LL. culcitinum, dim. of L. culcita cushion, mattress, pillow. See {Quilt}, and cf. {Counterpoint} a {coverlet}.] 1. A case or bag stuffed with some… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Cushion — Cush ion (k[oo^]sh [u^]n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Cushioned} ( [u^]nd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Cushioning}.] 1. To seat or place on, or as on a cushion. [1913 Webster] Many who are cushioned on thrones would have remained in obscurity. Bolingbroke. [1913 …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • cushion — (n.) c.1300, from O.Fr. coissin seat cushion (12c., Mod.Fr. coussin), probably a variant of V.L. *coxinum, from L. coxa hip, thigh, or from L. culcita mattress. Someone has counted more than 400 spellings of the plural of this word in M.E. wills… …   Etymology dictionary

  • cushion — [n] pillow, pad beanbag, bolster, buffer, bumper, fender, hassock, headrest, mat, rest, seat, sham, squab, woolsack; concepts 444,464,484 cushion [v] pad, protect from blow bolster, buttress, cradle, dampen, deaden, insulate, muffle, pillow,… …   New thesaurus

  • cushion — ► NOUN 1) a bag of cloth stuffed with a mass of soft material, used as a comfortable support for sitting or leaning on. 2) a source of support or protection against impact. 3) the elastic lining of the sides of a billiard table, from which the… …   English terms dictionary

  • cushion — index bear (support), ease, mitigate, modify (moderate), protect Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton …   Law dictionary

  • cushion — [[t]k ʊʃ(ə)n[/t]] cushions, cushioning, cushioned 1) N COUNT A cushion is a fabric case filled with soft material, which you put on a seat to make it more comfortable. ...a velvet cushion. 2) N COUNT A cushion is a soft pad or barrier, especially …   English dictionary

  • cushion — cushionless, adj. cushionlike, adj. /koosh euhn/, n. 1. a soft bag of cloth, leather, or rubber, filled with feathers, air, foam rubber, etc., on which to sit, kneel, or lie. 2. anything similar in form, used to dampen shocks or to prevent… …   Universalium

  • cushion — cush|ion1 S3 [ˈkuʃən] n [Date: 1300 1400; : Old French; Origin: coissin, from Vulgar Latin coxinus, from Latin coxa hip ] 1.) a cloth bag filled with soft material that you put on a chair or the floor to make it more comfortable →↑pillow ▪ a… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • cushion — I UK [ˈkʊʃ(ə)n] / US noun Word forms cushion : singular cushion plural cushions * 1) [countable] a cloth bag filled with something soft such as feathers, used for making a seat more comfortable 2) [countable] a layer that separates two objects… …   English dictionary

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