Wordwyrt

mattress

/ˈmætɹəs/MA-truhs
/ˈmætɹəs/MA-truhs

Meaningsomething thrown down

Common meaning: a padded pad to sleep on

Journey through time

  1. Arabicmatrah‘a place where things are thrown down’source
  2. Old Frenchmeaning shiftsa place where things are thrown down → a quilt to sleep onmateras‘a quilt to sleep on’source
  3. Englishmattress‘a padded pad to sleep on’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Arabic matrah ‘something thrown down’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry MATTRESS, p. 359 · dictionary scan

Roots

  • matrah Arabic “something thrown down”

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app